Here to Assist
by JaneCorvin
Summary: (AU) Maura Isles is a successful architect with two children and is going through a nasty divorce. She's having a hard time when she meets her new assistant, Jane Rizzoli. Can Jane help Maura find herself again and break down the walls of her heart?
1. Chapter 1

"Maura, everything's going to be just fine. You'll see."

_Why do lawyers think they know everything? _The fact of the matter is that she may lose her children. Firstly, her daughter Alice hates her. Initially Maura thought it was just a teenage phase, but when they broke the news of the divorce to their children, Alice had actually shouted at Maura – not her father – in French! And then ran to her room. She thinks that the reason her parents are getting divorced is because they don't love each other anymore; and of course, she blames Maura and not Ian.

Then there's their younger son, Jacob, who keeps asking questions like _"When's daddy coming back home?" _and,_ "Why are you crying, mommy?" _As heart-breaking as it is for her to have to answer him honestly, his little face is what keeps her going; still so filled with hope.  
But the poor, sweet boy doesn't even understand what's happening.

"Mrs. Isles would you like to say anything before I give my verdict?" asked the judge. Anyone could tell that to him, her court case was just another marriage gone wrong and that he was in a hurry to resolve this and make it home in time if he wanted to keep his own marriage alive. If there was anything she would have really liked to say, she would have asked him to take this case seriously.

Yet knowing that she should say something, she didn't. There was nothing really to say. He had read their character witness statements as well as their hand-written statements and Maura exhausted every single resource she had to show this judge how much she needed her kids; and how much they needed her. And now her family's fate is left in the hands of an inattentive old man in a robe.

"Very well then. After reviewing both your personal statements, as well as your witness's statements, I have concluded that in the best interest of the children, their care will be left solely under the supervision of the father. This is a temporary arrangement until our next court date."

Maura felt her heart plummet heavily into the pit of her stomach. _How could he do this to me?_ How was it that Ian screwed up their family, but it was she who was being punished? Ian knows how much she loves their children. How could he?

"You are dismissed," said the judge, banging his gavel as if she was just another docket number.

"That's it? It's over?"

"Maura, now's not the best time for this. Please, trust me, everything's going to be fine," said her rookie lawyer, fresh out of Yale. Maura just knew he was too young to be able to hold the future of her children in his hands, but her brother, Colin, insisted he was one of the most elite, up and coming stars on the law and justice scene. So far, all he's done is draw up the divorce papers and let the court award her soon-to-be ex-husband full custody of her children. At this point, a refund would be the least he could do.

Fed up, Maura erupted with anger and yelled at him, "Until my children are safely back in MY home where they belong, everything will NOT be fine!" Redirecting her anger, Maura scowled at Ian.

"How can you take my children away from me?" she asked. He just sat there looking as if he had done nothing wrong; just an honest, blank stare of innocence. He probably didn't even expect the judge to rule in his favor either.

Setting her shoulders as she walked the short distance to his table, she stood right in front of Ian and his lawyer, hesitating to think of what she should say to him after yet another betrayal. Something that would hurt him or make him want to give her children back, but she couldn't. All Maura could think about was that the man she _married_ knows how much she cares about Alice and Jacob. The man she _married_ would never try to separate her from her children. But clearly, the man she married isn't the same man she's divorcing.

"I don't even know who you are anymore." And with that, she felt the prickle of fresh tears stinging her eyes.

Maura rushed out of the court room – _I will not let him see me cry_ – and as soon as she felt the cool, open air of downtown Boston, she completely fell apart. She tried to force herself to calm down so no one would see her like this; see what Ian's done to her, when she heard her phone ring. Her hands were shaking so much, she barely managed to press the right button before speaking on a broken exhale.

"Where are you!?" she barked at her brother, who had promised to be by her side during the court proceedings. _How reliable are the men in my life?_

"I'm so sorry, honey. The orientation at the university went on longer than usual. We're getting so many freshmen this year and apparently they all want to take Art History. So… what happened?" She knew that was coming. The price of having a twin: you know exactly what they're thinking.

"Well," she sighed, gathering her wits about her, "… Ian got full, _temporary_ custody of the kids." At first there was only the sound of a car engine that assured her Collin was still on the phone.

"Collin? Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he answered, sounding unsure. Then suddenly, his tone became extremely agitated. "You know what, I lied. I'm not ok and neither is this fucked up situation!"

"Collin, calm down, and please watch your language." This is so like her brother. He does this thing where he can turn anyone's situation into his own. Maura just knew that when she told him the judge's verdict, she would have to be the one consoling him instead of the other way around. "Everything is going to be fine," she mimicked, "That over-priced under-aged lawyer you stuck me with told me himself."

"You with the jokes at a time like this... Listen, go home. I'm on my way to your house right after I drop by the liquor store, ok?" Honestly, she didn't want to see him – or anyone – at the moment. And unfortunately, no amount of alcohol in the world could make this hurt go away.

"No. Actually, I just wanted to be alone," she confessed.

"Are you sure? Because I know this is a really difficult time for you…" he said as if she wasn't in a custody battle, but instead battling cancer.

"I'm positive. Plus, I shouldn't drink. I have work in the morning."

"Right. Got it, sis. Is there anything you want me to get you?"

The only thing she could think of that she could possibly want was her children. She sighed, defeated. "No, I'm fine."

"Alright, well call me if you need _anything_, ok?"

Maura knows he means well, but she really needed him by her side in that courtroom today. Yeah, not gonna happen. "I will. Oh, and Collin?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell them," he said preemptively, doing the twin thing.

"Especially not mother!"

"Especially not mother."

When she hung the phone up, Maura started walking towards her car. Distracted with thoughts of the day's events and preoccupied with wiping the tears from her blurry eyes, she almost didn't notice him standing near her car.

"Maura..."

She snapped her head up to find Ian standing there. "Excuse me, I need to get in my car. Besides, you're not even supposed to be talking to me," she said keeping any emotion from coloring her voice.

"I know, but I need a favor."

For lack of a better (or worse) word, Maura was completely stunned. He had been dragging her through hell for so long with the marriage counseling, then the divorce lawyers, and not even ten minutes ago he was standing before a judge, under oath, testifying that she was an unfit mother! Now he wants a_favor_?

"Ian, what could you possibly want from me? You've already taken every single thing I care even a little about."

"It's actually about the kids. Could you… not tell them… you know… about what happened?"

"What do you mean by 'what happened'?" Maura played dumb, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She was wondering when this conversation would come to a head.

"You know… about _why_ we're getting a divorce."

"Oh, you mean how their father cheated on their mother with three other women? And how you then allowed them to believe that the reason for our divorce is because Mommy spends too much time at work and doesn't really love Daddy anymore? Is that the 'what happened' you're referring to?"

"Have you… Have you already told them?" he asked, unable to meet her gaze. She couldn't tell whether it was from shame or fear. She hoped it was both.

"No! Of course not. And I wasn't going to, because unlike you, I _am_ a fit parent," she countered, shoving her way past him and getting into her car.

_How could he even think that I would tell our children something like that? I would never tell them that their dad is a selfish bastard who couldn't keep his hands – or any part of himself – to himself. As if they aren't already going through hell._

Without a backwards glance, Maura put the key in the ignition, hands shaking in anger, and drove away, disappearing around the corner. When she reached her destination, she put the car in park in front of the playground where Jake and Ali often played, long before their family came crashing down like a ton of uncemented bricks.

Maura sat there crying until the street lights came on, wondering how on earth she was going to build them back up again.

* * *

A stream of piercing, bright light leaked through her bedroom curtains and woke her up. Her head ached dizzyingly, the throbbing at the base of her skull reminding her that that last glass of wine was one glass too many. Eventually, Maura willed her body to roll over and glanced at the bedside clock. Through her haze, she strained to make her brain read and make sense of the large, red numbers... _I'm late!_

Shooting out of bed with a newfound reserve of energy, Maura stumbled instinctively around her bedroom while the blood rushed around inside her head._Late for work! I will never hear the end of it. _Glad that she decided to take a hot bath last night instead of putting it off until this morning, she rushed into her closet and blindly grabbed the first black pencil skirt and white blouse in sight.

"Where are my sketches?" she wondered out loud. Hurrying down the hallway to her home office while buttoning up her shirt, Maura rummaged through the papers on her desk and luckily, the sketches were right there waiting for her. She found a pair of her go-to black heels peeking from under the desk and absent-mindedly slipped them on with practiced ease.

Remembering that workdays also meant schooldays in this household, the working mother of two dashed to her son's room to wake Jacob up, but when she reached his bed, she realized he wasn't in it. That was a little strange, but thinking nothing of it, Maura figured his big sister woke him up after noticing their mother was still asleep. As angry as she was all the time, Alice was nothing if not practical. Maura made her way to the next bedroom and pushed Alice's door open only to find that her bed was already made and her book bag wasn't at her desk. Confused, Maura made her way down the stairs, wondering where her kids were.

It wasn't until she reached the kitchen that the overwhelming truth of yesterday's events came rushing back.

"My children are gone."

The thought alone was enough to open the floodgates of anguish she tried so hard to numb the night before. Maura is not usually one to exaggerate, but she literally felt like dying; she felt like going back up to bed and never getting back up. All sorts of questions swirled around her mind. _Are they awake? Did Alice drop her brother off at school? Do they have lunch money for the week? Do they miss me too?_

Intent on finding out the state of her children's well-being, the worried mother quickly went upstairs to her bedroom in search of her cell phone. When she saw the text message alert on the screen, she immediately imagined the worst, giving way for panic to set in. Maura opened the message.

**Alice: Don't worry. Jake and I are at school. I took care of it.**

Maura sighed in relief, proud to have such a responsible daughter during this trying time. Her slight smile sagged a little when she realized how much growing up Ali's been forced to do since the divorce was announced. She wished her daughter didn't have to grow up so fast just because one parent refused to. Pushing those feelings aside for later processing, Maura sent a quick reply.

**Maura: Hey, honey. I'm really sorry we didn't get to say good-bye before your dad came for you.**

The reply is instant.

**A: … Sure mom.**

Maura could almost see Alice roll her eyes at her.

**M: Ali, I had no idea he was going to get you guys before I even got home.**

**A: I said sure. Gotta go.**

**M: Okay. I love you. Call me later, please.**

Maura knew her daughter wouldn't reply this time, but she was glad even for this short, awkward interaction. A few moments after pressing _Send_, wrapped up in the feeling of missing her children dearly, she caught another glimpse of the time and decidedly sprang back into action.

She couldn't believe she was late. In her ten years working at one of the leading architectural agencies in the world, she had never been late. Not once, not ever.

Maura sent an _'I'm running late'_ text to her assistant, Justin, as she peeled out of her driveway, but there was no reply. Could this day get any worse?

If only she hadn't broken down last night and indulged herself in an entire bottle of wine – alone – crying over a photo album of the happy family she once had. Her thumb hovered over the _Send_ button several times after typing and re-typing her brother a simple text reading, "I'm not okay." Yet she never sent it. Instead, she coddled herself with way too much liquid healing and now she's running into work with disheveled hair and a pair of shoes a different shade of black than her skirt!

As soon as the elevator dinged to reveal the 12th floor, she darted towards her office hoping – no, _expecting_ – her morning coffee would be promptly waiting if Justin knew what was good for him after ignoring her this morning, but as she passed her usually punctual assistant's desk, Maura noticed it was empty. Something else that got her attention was a woman she'd never seen before, hovering near her office door.

Maura walked past her and twisted the door-handle and the pacing woman stopped and immediately turned to her. She smiled and said, "Hello, you must be Mrs. Isles, I'm-"

Maura turned in the doorway and rolled her eyes, too hung-over to even bother trying to hide it. She never thought she'd be on the business end of the dreaded 'you're late' speech, but she kind of knew it was coming.

"Listen," she rudely interrupted the other woman, "if you're one of Fairfield's minions here to inform me that I am late, you can save yourself the trouble and inform _him_ that I am intelligent enough to be fully aware of that fact."

The woman looked taken aback and her smile wilted. "Oh, no Ma'am. My name is Jane Rizzoli. I'm actually-"

"Look, I don't have time for this. I have a lot of work to do."

And without a backwards glance, Maura further entered her office and shut the door in the woman's face. Sighing, she dragged herself to her desk and plopped down, already exhausted. Placing her head in her hands, Maura took a few deep breaths. _I really need to calm down_. She was already so worked up, without having done any work yet.

Coffee. That's what was missing from the equation. _Where's my coffee? _Justin. Dead man walking. They've discussed this; she needs her coffee waiting on her desk every morning of every day. It was highly unlike him to slack like this. He's usually too afraid of her to do anything wrong.

The architect picked up her telephone's receiver and then dialed her assistant's extension. The phone rang and rang and rang until she ultimately slammed it down and charged back to her door, yanking it open. Maura stood in the doorway and yelled. "Justin! Where the hell is my coffee!"

But instead of the meek, young man with 90s boy-band highlights and thick-framed glasses, the tall, dark-haired girl from earlier got up from Justin's desk and shuffled toward her. "Oh. I… didn't know you needed coffee."

"What I need is Justin. Where is he?"

"Uhm… Ma'am, he was laid off yesterday," she said as if Maura should already know this.

Maura's agitation promptly picked up where it left off after the last five words that were said to her. Laid off?!

"What! How do _you_ know this when **I** don't?"

This had Fairfield's fingerprints all over it. Typical. How could he just fire _her_ assistant and not let _her_ know? Maura was beyond furious.

"I only, uhm, found out about this job yesterday myself. And it's just such a great opportunity I just couldn't pass it up. So, here I am. Jane Rizzoli, your new assistant…"

Maura felt like her head was spinning, not only from the hang over, but now from rage as well. One deadbeat after the other; first her husband, and now her boss (if you don't count her brother and lawyer). Men were officially overrated.

Fairfield did not get to hire and fire her assistants! **She** did! **She** got to choose who _she_ deemed qualified and quick enough to keep up with her pace, not him.

She looked the woman before her up and down. Standing up straight in her dark (clearly off-the-rack) pant-suit, she was tall and slim with long, wavy dark hair that stopped a couple of inches below her shoulder blades. But she looked a lot more mature than most of her previous young assistants, which is one of Maura's primary conditions for employment under her. Young assistants tended to have the stamina required to run errands and stay up late. They were also easily intimidated by her, and therefore, thankfully, kept their opinions to themselves. From what Maura's seen so far, this woman wasn't exactly a bad candidate, but that should have been **her** decision. Not Fairfield's.

Jane's rambling rant seemed to fetter out as Maura scrutinized every square inch of her with narrowed eyes. "_You're_ my new assistant?"

The woman eagerly nodded her head. "Yes, Ma'am. And Mrs. Isles, I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your work and I plan to work very hard for you. It's a real huge honor to be-"

"Why didn't you answer the phone when I paged your line?"

"Oh." She seemed taken aback at being interrupted once again. "Well, uhm-"

"You have used the unfavorable phrase 'uhm' three times so far during this conversation. If you are to remain my assistant past the five-minute mark, you are to speak to me like an educated individual. Therefore, you will completely discard that phrase from your vocabulary."

At first, the new assistant just stared back at her. She lifted her eyebrows in surprise, mouth poised to say something, but ended up only nodding slowly, accepting the assertion of Maura's superior position.

"It won't happen again, Mrs. Isles. But just for the record, when you called earlier I was on the phone with someone from upstairs and I wasn't sure how to switch over to your line."

Maura looked at her subordinate, who seemed to be nervous for a change, as her hands dug into her pockets, looking back at her with expressive brown eyes.

"Well, _Jane_, you better figure it out by the time I get back. Now, call Fairfield's office and let him know that I'm on my way up to speak with him," she said to her, making her way to the elevator. She was going to rip him a new one.

This was no coincidence. Ever since Maura rejected his romantic advances toward her, he's been a complete ass to her. It isn't her fault that she finds him very unattractive on top of her being very married… or at least she _was_ very married. And ever since his father made him co-head of the company, he credits himself with far more power than he actually possesses. She was tired of his crap. It had to end.

When Maura passed by his assistant's desk, she immediately rose to her feet.

"Mrs. Isles, we weren't expecting you. Your assistant _just_ called to say you were on your way up."

"Yes, Diana, and I wasn't _expecting_ to have a new assistant. A day full of surprises, isn't it? Where is he?"

"He… uhm… He-" Maura waved her off for wasting her time, and entered Fairfield's office without knocking. She found him silently seated at his desk, browsing something on his laptop when his stony face turned shocked once his line of sight found her in it.

"Isles, what are you doing here?"

She crossed her arms and braced herself for the verbal lashing she had concocted and embellished especially for him on the ride up on the elevator.

"One of these days everyone will realize that you aren't just _playing_ dumb. And you know exactly why I'm here! What is this about me getting a new assistant? Why was Justin fired and why the hell was I not informed about it?

"You have got to stop playing these stupid games to try and get back at me! I am much too mature for this childish revenge, especially when it starts interfering with my work. Just because you're daddy's boy does not mean you are exempt from the standard of professionalism that the rest of us seem to have no problem upholding, Garret!"

He stared at her for a long moment before closing his laptop and adjusting his tie with a tensed jaw.

"First of all, _Maura_, I'll ignore your little outburst due to your present… circumstances, but let this be the last. And I have no idea what game you think I'm playing with you, but I can assure you that I do my job with the utmost professionalism and efficiency. My company _prides_ itself in our efficiency, which is why I had to let your little bus-boy go."

"That makes no sense. What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Pillar's salary had to be cut. He didn't like it, so we had to replace him with someone who didn't mind working for a little less. Now, you know all about this business. Do you truly doubt I did the right thing?"

As much as she hated this prick, he had a point. The company was all about cutting corners and saving money at any cost, but she wasn't about to let him off that easily.

"And I suppose giving me a heads up would have been wrong and inefficient of you then?"

"Well, the decision was made yesterday and you said yourself that you didn't wish to be bothered the day of your trial… How did that go by the way?"

"None of your damn business." Maura turned and began walking towards the door. "By the way, an email, at the very least, would have been _nice_. Which I imagine would have been quite far out of character for you."

"Good morning to you too!" She heard him say, always having to have the last word. Could the day get any worse _now_?

* * *

By the time Maura arrived back at her office, she found her new assistant sitting at her desk recording something into the planner with her left hand while holding the phone's receiver against her shoulder with the other. She was concentrating too hard to even realize her new boss was back.

An unusual sense of fleeting guilt swept over Maura for snapping at her earlier. The girl was trying. She gave her a slight nod as she continued on into her office and shut the door, only to be wonderfully assaulted by the aroma of coffee. Her heartbeat sped up in excitement with each step, fingers crossed that it isn't instant coffee.

And there it was: a double-tall, non-fat, spice pumpkin espresso. Plus a post-it note reading: _'Sorry about the wait. It won't happen again.'_ Suddenly she didn't miss Justin at all. The fact that Jane got it right the first time was impressive on its own, just not enough to send Fairfield a thank you note.

Taking a sip, Maura's thoughts cleared and gave way for her conscience. The new girl really was trying, and Maura felt she owed it to her to at least introduce herself properly. Now that she thought about it, she's been nothing but bitchy to her all morning.

Having another sip, Maura sat back in her chair with her coffee in hand and dialed Jane's extension with the other. It rang only once before Jane picked up the line, sounding flustered.

"Hello, Mrs. Isles. What can I do for you?"

"I see you figured out how to use the phone," she noted, a half-attempt at humor.

Through the glass walls Maura saw her look over with a very faint smirk. "Yes, Ma'am."

She sighed in relief, glad Jane didn't take it the wrong way. "Anyway, will you step into my office, please Jane?"

Jane glanced at her again through the wall. "Oh, of course. I'll be right there."

A moment later, Maura looked up at the sound of her door opening as Jane stepped only a few feet into the room and stopped, waiting for instructions with her iPad in hand.

"Do you need me to do something, Mrs. Isles?"

"Come. Sit."

* * *

**A/N: So...I did a thing. Please, let me know what you think! Also, thanks to my awesome beta** **Ink-About-It.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hi guys! So I modified chapter 1 a little, but you won't be lost if you don't go read it, but it's better. Also, translation for the Italian in this chapter is at the bottom. Thanks for your reviews, follows and favorites. I plan on updating once or twice a week:) Anyway...chapter 2. Happy reading!

* * *

At first they just sat there, staring at each other like amateur boxers circling each other in the ring. Jane knew when she was being sized up, but when it's your boss doing it, who also happens to be your idol, all you can do is let her. She had done her research and as amazing and talented as Maura was, she also had a bit of an 'ice queen' reputation. She liked to keep everyone on their toes, but if you weren't keeping pace, it was best to just stay out of her way.

After her decision to leave the Boston Police Department after a couple of years in order to go to college and follow her real dream, Jane knew that this would be a cake-walk, but now that she was there, she couldn't believe how nervous she truly was to be in the same room as such an esteemed designer. And who knew Maura Isles would be so beautiful in person? Jane cleared her throat at the inappropriate thought, and tried to fill the awkward silence with some small talk.

"Well, I passed the five-minute mark. Does that mean you'll keep me?" she asked, her own half-attempt at humor, but the other half actually _did _want to know the answer.

So busy analyzing her, Maura didn't quite catch what Jane said. Only the unique timbre of her voice laced with a hint of apprehension. Maura could clearly tell she was nervous, but wondered if being nervous was familiar territory for Jane. Something told her it wasn't. When Jane stared back at her with questioning eyes, Maura thought she must have missed something.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Nothing," Jane quickly said, trying hard to remember not to say _uhm_, "I mean, I was just… I just want you to know that I'm a huge fan of your work." Jane knew she was practically sucking up to the woman, but she couldn't care less. She really needed this job. "And I know I'm a little older than you're used to, and maybe you think I'm a little incompetent because of the whole coffee and phone debacle this morning, but Mrs. Isles-"

"Actually it's _Ms._ Isles, and I wouldn't go so far as to call you incompetent. It _is_ your first day after all. However, since I haven't had the opportunity to look over your résumé myself, exactly how old are you?"

"Twenty-eight. And to be honest, first-day jitters aren't really my thing… I'm sure it was just a fluke." Jane hoped she was right.

Maura leaned back in her chair, back to business as usual. "For your sake, I do hope so because from now on, anything subpar out of you is unacceptable. My work schedule is quite rigorous, so you need to keep me organized and on schedule. You will get my coffee, prep for meetings and on occasion sit in to take notes. You will accompany me to construction sites for reviews, the odd office or house-call for consultations, and if you prove yourself to be no less than exceptional, I may even trust you to pick up my dry-cleaning.

"All that may sound simple enough, but I need you to be my shadow from now on. Anticipate my every move. You're on-call 25/8 and that means late nights and short weekends. You will receive a company cell phone; make sure it's always on, and always on you. Consider every call an emergency. You may just have to forfeit whatever social life you have for this job. Now, Jane, I have one question for you. Can you handle it?"

As Maura went on, something inside Jane blossomed. A sense of purpose. She remembered why she was here: to work under the best architect this side of the globe and hopefully have that brilliance rub off on her. That wasn't something to be anxious about; she should have been excited. Relaxing a bit, she felt confident that she could totally _handle it_. So with a smug smirk, which could easily come off as cocky, Jane replied.

There was something about Jane. Something Maura couldn't quite put her finger on as she watched the corners of her mouth turn up before she leaned forward to lace her fingers together on the desk separating them. Something Maura realized she actually _could_ put her finger on as Jane's deep chuckle prompted a sudden warm sensation at the bottom of her stomach… _Must be from having caffeine without breakfast._

"With all due respect, Ma'am," Jane started sounding like herself again, "I've been around hardened criminals back when I was on the Boston Police Department's payroll, and if you knew my mother, you'd know I've practically been training for this for the past 28 years. Even in college, I played assistant to pretty much all my professors to beat out the rest of the younger students. I mean, I'm no grandma, but I've got a few years on most others still starting out like me. I probably need you more than you need me."

The last comment stirred something inside of Maura and she couldn't help but smile.

"You've shown initiative, and I truly am impressed by it, however, I'm certain not even some of Boston's finest could handle this job. You haven't answered my question either. _Can_ you handle it?"

Jane took the repetition of this simple question very seriously. She let out a deep breath and nodded to herself, answering, "Yes, I can."

Maura gave her own nod of acknowledgement. "Good. And remember, you're still on a trial run, so one big mistake and you're automatically replaceable."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"And I'm not the hand-holding type either, so you better be a fast learner."

"Yes, Ms. Isles."

"That'll be all for now." Jane took that as her cue to beat it so she got up.

"Thank you. And it was nice meeting you, Ms. Isles."

Maura wasn't sure if Jane was being truthful, but she offered her hand for Jane to shake as she politely replied, "Likewise."

Their hands lingered long enough for Maura to notice the raised scar tissue on the back of Jane's hand before she walked back out the door, shutting it gently behind her.

Maura wondered how long her new assistant would last…

* * *

Jane was a God-send. A month later, Maura could admit that without scolding herself for getting too attached to another expendable assistant. One thing she hadn't counted on was the likelihood of a slightly more mature assistant having their own benefits. For one, her previous employees struggled to think beyond their future five minutes from now, but Jane could coordinate and synchronize an entire week's worth of meetings and appointments so seamlessly and still make it look almost effortless – and then still manage to get her lunch order right without constant prompting. It's surprising how many have failed.

Maura even got her a Bluetooth headset so Jame could multitask easily. Jane liked to walk around with her hands in her pockets or move her hands around wildly while she was on the phone. That trait seemed to be endearing to Maura for some reason.

The clients took an instant liking to her as well, a fact that has proven very useful around the few more melodramatic clients who choose to arrive long before their appointment times. Jane was calm and reassuring when she had to be and firm when necessary, an approach a lot of people seemed to respond to positively. Maura found that she was envious of Jane's ease with gaining people's trust.

"I hope you aren't planning on poaching my clients with that smooth talking mouth of yours, Jane," she had joked one day out of the blue while driving back from a construction site that was shaping up pretty great and on schedule for a change.

"Oh, no Ma'am," Jane absent-mindedly smiled after sipping from her third coffee that day, "I'd much rather stay under you."

Maura lifted her eyebrow and tamed the shock on her face as Jane fumbled to amend that statement.

"I- I mean not under you like _that_, but under like _working_ under you-" Jane stopped mid-rant and looked over at her boss when an unfamiliar sound filled the car. And that was the first time she made Maura Isles laugh.

"Relax, Jane. I know exactly what you mean."

Despite the cool confidence she seemed to exude around everyone else, when it came to Maura, Jane was always so guarded and polite, almost to a fault. She made jokes every now and then, but she would always take them back for fear of overstepping. So when she joined in with Maura's laughter instead, it was like the first barrier had been broken.

Maura couldn't even remember the last or first time she ever shared a joke with one of her assistants, or her last assistant's first name for that matter. And Jane couldn't have come along at a better time. Without her family to go home to, all Maura had was work so that's all she did to distract herself until she was too tired to stay awake.

The two women worked late nights together from day one, but not one complaint had been uttered about it. On the contrary, Jane seemed to thrive on it._Maybe she didn't have much to go home to either_, Maura wondered briefly one night after leaving the office.

That night had been particularly difficult because she had a big client she was pitching to the following day, so they were prepping to the last letter, but all Maura could focus on was Jacob and whether he had his night-light on, or Alice and whether she was up late on the phone with a boy again. She missed those two like crazy, and it was just one of those nights when it hurt a lot more than others.

Obviously drinking was not an option. She didn't even have one glass of wine, afraid of the possible chain reaction like last time; so she tried something she hadn't done in a while. After sending a quick text to her assistant to be at the office a little earlier than usual for last minute details, Maura texted her brother.

She knew there was a big chance he was already sleeping and she didn't want to wake him up if he was, but she had to talk to someone.

**Maura: Hey… So, you should definitely come over to my place tonight.**

He took his time replying, but Maura was glad he does at all.

- **_Are you sure? Was there something you needed?_**

Why was he playing coy all of a sudden? Maura hoped he didn't have overnight company or something.

**M: What? No, I'm just really missing the kids & I'd rather not be alone tonight... Come on, you know you want to. And I promise not to rant about how much I hate men. :)****  
**

- **_Well, I'm always happy to assist in any way I can, Ms. Isles, but are you sure this is such a good idea? Don't get me wrong, I'll come over if you want me to, but you're my boss._**

The only people who called Maura _Ms. Isles_ were from work and the only person who called her boss was... And that's when a light bulb lit up in her head.

**M: Oh, goodness. Jane. Those messages were meant for my brother. I'm so sorry to have bothered you. Please disregard everything I've just said.**

- **_I guess that makes more sense now. Don't worry about it. I was still up anyway. Have a good night._**

Maura was far too embarrassed to reply any further so she flopped back on her pillows with a heavy sigh and covered her face with both hands as a bout of soundless laughter bubbled up her chest and shook her body. Once she had sobered up, she realized Jane must think her weak and desperate. Maura dreaded tomorrow.

Before dozing off, she had a passing thought. _What if Jane _had_ come over?_

* * *

It was as if nothing had changed, and Maura allowed herself to indulge in the idea that maybe nothing had. Jane didn't look at her any differently after that texting faux pas and news of it hadn't gotten around the office, yet, so maybe it didn't even happen at all.

She had expected pity or sympathy, or just plain ridicule – a backlash from Maura's youth – but nothing was awkward at all. In fact, Jane made a joke about it like it wasn't a big deal to have your boss accidentally text you in the middle of the night.

"Don't worry, I won't blackmail you with those for a day off or something… A raise, maybe."

Her grin let Maura know she was just joking again and another barrier was lifted.

As they made their way across the parking garage to her car, Maura threw the keys at Jane, who was luckily a good catch. At first she just stood there with the keys cupped in her hands before asking, "What are these for?"

Maura tilted her head as she went over to the passenger side. "Well, if you **must** know, I thought you may need the car keys to actually drive the car," she said with a smile, but retracted it when Jane didn't return it. "Sorry, I was trying to make a joke."

Jane snapped her eyes up to meet Maura's. "Oh, yeah… I know, and it was funny…" Maura lit back up at that, "I just don't- You want _me_ to drive your car?"

"I have a few phone calls to make and my hands-free kit is in the other car. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," she said with unbridled enthusiasm as she started moving again. "But this is a Mercedes Benz."

"Yes, you're very observant."

Jane continued on even as she unlocked the car and open the door. "I mean, I'm an okay driver, but… you know… things happen and…"

"…and you're afraid of wrecking this expensive car, is that it?"

Jane nodded even though she'd never wrecked a car in her life.

"Well, that's what car insurance is for. And I happen to have it, so please get in before we're late."

Taking that as a direct order, and secretly glad of Maura's insistence, Jane got in. "Yes, Ma'am."

Jane was silent the entire time she was in the car, too busy concentrating on not crashing it. As grateful as she was for Jane's respect for her belongings, if Jane didn't ease up on that brake pedal they would get caught in traffic so, without thinking, Maura reached her hand over to Jane's knee and said, "Jane, if you would just-"

"Whoa!"

Jane instinctively slammed her foot on the brakes, the momentum jerking them forward and causing the car behind them to honk at them for that unnecessary emergency stop. Jane hurriedly got moving again to avoid any further altercations and sped off to try and outrun her embarrassment.

"Ms. Isles, could you please not… do that?" she said as her voice climbed unnaturally high in pitch while she tried to keep her eyes on the road.

"Do what?"

Jane gave a pointed glance down to the warm hand still squeezing her knee. "_That_. With your hand. It's distracting."

Before Maura could say anything after removing her hand, her phone rang out loud. Jane sighed in relief, not even noticing that she was driving like a normal person again.

"Maura Isles."

_"Mrs. Isles?"_

"Speaking. Who is this?"

_"This is Principal Johnson from the Advent High School. You're Alice Isles' mother, right?"_

"Yes, I am. Is she okay?"

Jane stole a glance at Maura when panic crept into her voice.

_"We tried calling her primary guardian, Mr. Faulkner, but he was unreachable."_

"Why, what's going on?"

_"Well, apparently your daughter was involved in a physical altercation with another student."_

"What! Alice was in a fight? What happened?"

_"Well, we've asked your daughter why she attacked the other girl, but she hasn't spoken a word to anyone."_

"Wait a minute, _she_ assaulted the other student? That doesn't sound like her at all." She rubbed her temple with her free hand feeling a headache coming on.

_"That's what I thought too. Alice is one of our model students, and for that reason only, the school is willing to be lenient as far as this incident is concerned. Although she will be suspended from school for three days, it won't go on her record."_

A sigh of mild relief escaped Maura's mouth. Being one of the school's biggest benefactors had its advantages. "Thank you, Principal Johnson. I sincerely appreciate it, and I'm sure my daughter will too… some day."

_"Not a problem, Mrs. Isles. We just need one of her parents to come and get her from the school in the meantime. And might I add, as far as I'm aware of the current situation at home, I would recommend Alice see our on-campus counselor when she gets back fro-"_

"Thank you," Maura is quick to cut the woman off, "That's a very generous offer but I will see to my daughter's well-being. Again, thank you."

_"Of course, of course. She'll be waiting at the off-"_

Maura hung up and sighed again out of frustration. "We aren't going to the meeting," she declared.

It took a moment for Jane to realize that Maura was addressing _her_. "We're not?"

"No. My daughter picked today of all days to become a juvenile delinquent. I have to go pick her up from school… now."

They were at a red traffic light and almost at their destination so Jane didn't immediately turn the car around, but her boss must have been pretty pissed to want to ditch a client. And today's client was a big one, but as great as she thought it was for Maura to pick her kid over work, Jane didn't really see the point in choosing at all. She was hired to assist after all, right?

"How about I just drop you off at the meeting and then go pick your kid up? Two birds, one stone and all that… If you want." She offered hesitantly.

Maura slowly turned her head to Jane. It wasn't the worst idea…

"No. I can't ask you to do that. You're my assistant only as far as it's related to our work environment. That would be a gratuitous abuse of power. I'll tell you where to turn…"

"Look, I absolutely understand that, but I'm in charge of making sure you're always on schedule, and last time I checked, missing a meeting is about as bad as it gets, so technically this is in my job description. And I really don't mind."

Maura narrowed her eyes at Jane, damning her for her flawless logic, but at the end of the day she had no choice but to yield.

"Okay," she sighed, "If you don't mind, I can't reject that offer. But still, I do apologize that you have to do this. I won't soon forget it… And you know, they weren't even supposed to call me at all," she mumbled to herself with a scoff, "I guess I'm only a 'fit' parent when the one who has custody decides to take the day off. I mean, honestly, how did he even manage to fool them into believing he had a responsible bone in his body? Who ignores a phone call from their child's school? And I'm dead-sure he wasn't unreachable, he was at work. And by work I mean Tiffany. What if Ali or Jake were seriously injured? What then?..."

At some point Maura forgot she wasn't talking to herself. She threw her hands up in annoyance and became quiet after a while.

Jane had only quietly listened to the entire rant as she focused her eyes on the road, wondering if she was supposed to say anything back.

"Sorry about that. That was incredibly unprofessional. I shouldn't have gone off like that."

"No, it's okay. Really… I get it," she shrugged, glad to know her boss was only human too.

Maura made a call to the school to inform them that her assistant would pick Alice up and it ended just as they pulled up to their destination.

"Okay, so if anything happens, just call me, okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Thank you."

"Good luck in there," said Jane jerking her head at the large building before them.

Maura opened her door and said, "Good luck with Alice."

* * *

Advent High School reminded Jane of the white house. She decided to put on her blazer if she didn't want to be mistaken for a trespasser.

"Hi, I'm here to pick up Alice Isles?" she told the woman at the front desk. She wasn't sure why she said that as a question.

"Oh, and you are?" asked the woman sitting behind the front desk.

"Jane Rizzoli."

"May I see some ID, please?" she smiled politely.

Jane pulled out her driver's license.

"Okay then. I'll go get Ms. Isles for you. Please wait here." The woman disappeared down the hallway as Jane stood among other parents and students at the waiting area.

Looking around, she tried not to think too much of this. It wasn't exactly picking up Maura's beloved clothes from the dry-cleaner, but Maura trusted her enough to pick her daughter up and that was a way bigger deal. In the short time Jane had worked for her, she didn't know much about the woman but the underlying theme was her fierce love for her children and her massive dislike for her ex-husband. But Jane didn't want to read too much into it because if she did, she may cross a line.

"Who is _she_?"

Jane turned around at that question to find a girl who could only be Alice Isles. The girl was beautiful like her mother with sandy blonde hair in a slightly tousled braid and flawless skin apart from the bruise on her cheek, but the kicker was those light hazel green eyes that made her the spitting image of her mother.

"This is Ms. Rizzoli. Your mother sent her to come and pick you," the helpful office worker interjected before Jane could.

"My mother wouldn't send a complete stranger to get me. I'm not going with her," she sneered at the woman, looking a bit like her mother on a short fuse.

"I'm no stranger to your mother. I'm her assistant. And you can call me Jane."

Alice looked back and forth between the two adults before settling her scrutinizing gaze on Jane. If she hadn't had Maura already do that to her, Jane may have even felt a little uncomfortable as the girl's eyes looked her up and down. In the end, she just huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Whatever, but if she kidnaps me and you never hear from me again, it's totally on you." Jane followed her out without a word and they got into the Benz just as quietly before Jane drove away.

The silence lasted about ten minutes before Jane spoke up. "So… what happened to your face?"

Alice simply ignored her. Accepting that maybe she didn't want to talk about it, Jane shrugged it off and went on.

"Okay… Are you hungry? Your Mom's at a meeting and it may take a couple hours so we might as well grab you something to eat, right?"

Again, nothing. Jane was tempted to just let the girl stew in her own pride until her stomach growled, but she reminded herself that this wasn't one of her brothers. It was her boss' daughter, and the last thing she wanted was for Alice to cry wolf to her mother.

"Come on, I'm just trying to help here. And there's no need for you to go hungry out of spite. What do you say?"

Alice let loose a long, exasperated eye-roll. "Dico, perché non stai zitta e pensi a guidare?!"

When Jane groaned in frustration but didn't respond further, the teenager smirked in triumph at stumping her with a foreign language, and turned to look back out the window for the rest of the quiet drive.

* * *

For thirty long minutes, they waited in Maura's car until she finally came out sporting an unreadable expression. Sauntering up to the passenger side, she opened the door and peered down at Alice.

"In the back," she ordered, unable to hide her disappointment. The girl wordlessly got in the back and crossed her arms in last-minute defiance as Jane drove off once more.

"Okay, Mom, before you lay in to me, just know that _she_ started it. I mean, what was I supposed to do, just sit there and let her talk about me? No! She got what she deserved and you can't tell me any different."

"Not now, Ali. We'll discuss this at home."

"It's not like we live together anyway. So you may as well just yell at me now."

"You're staying with _me_ tonight."

"Why, where's Dad? Wasn't he supposed to be the one getting me from school anyway?"

"He was, but he wouldn't answer his phone," Maura replied with a bit more bite than she had intended. When her daughter didn't counter, she realized how that may have sounded.

"Honey, you can talk to him tomorrow, alright? But for now we decided it was easier this way, okay? Plus, I've missed you."

Jane's heart melted at the sentiment, but Alice's reply almost had her smacking the girl upside the head to knock some sense back into her.

"Whatever," she ground out through her teeth.

Jane shook her head and changed the subject.

"So, how'd the meeting go?"

"Oh, I… I got it." Maura's smile was brief; a ghost of a smile really, but Jane couldn't control herself at the news. All that hard work had paid off, and to think Maura almost didn't go.

"You got it? Ms. Isles, that's such great news! When do they wanna get started?"

"As soon as I'm ready, but… that probably won't be for a few days." She glanced at her daughter through the rearview mirror.

"Oh… well-"

"Really, Mom?" the younger Isles piped up. "I'm seventeen, I don't need you to babysit me, okay? I don't need you."

And that was the last straw for Jane. How could this girl talk to her mother like that with all that's happening right now? Actually, period. You don't talk to your mother like that period.

"Okay, that's enough," Jane said in a low rumble. "You're still a child and this woman is still your mother. Show some respect. "Se non hai niente di bello da dire, sta seduta e zitta?"

Stunned silence. That's what Jane Rizzoli had reduced both Isles women to, and she kind of liked it too. And the cherry on top was that she could make a clean getaway because they were back at their office building garage. Jane cut the engine and swiftly got out.

"Have a good evening, ladies." She bade them farewell before getting in her own car and heading home, hoping that her mouth didn't just ensure today as her last day of employment as Maura's assistant.

* * *

**Translations:**

"I say how about you just shut up and drive?"

"So if you have nothing nice to say, how about you just keep quiet and ride?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey, guys. I was going to post this yesterday, but ended up having to go out of town...But don't worry. I have found wifi! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Happy Reading!**

* * *

Jane sat at her desk biting her thumb nail. Her knee bounced up and down while she waited for her boss to arrive. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, because her mind was running wild. Thoughts about how she had snapped at her boss's daughter yesterday plagued her all night. Would Maura be angry? Would she fire her over this? She had really tried to control her tongue, but she just wasn't used to a young girl, who was privileged by the way, speaking to her mother like that. She knew if she or her brothers would have ever spoken to their mother like that they would get a good tongue lashing as well as a smack on the back of the head. She only hoped she hadn't gone too far.

At that moment Jane's ears perked up at the sound of the familiar click of her boss's heels. Maura was looking straight ahead as she walked into her office with Alice in tow. Jane swallowed hard at the fact that Maura did not stop by her desk like she usually does every morning to grab her coffee. She stood from her desk and walked to the door. Gripping Maura's coffee in her right hand, she knocked gently on the door.

"Come in."

Maura had never spent a day at work with any of her children before so she busied herself mulling it over. She already had Ali bring some study material along to keep herself occupied and productive, as well as some leisure reading in case she got bored, but one thing that was clear was that there would be very little talking going on. Last night was testament to the fact that she was in no mood to talk. She blatantly refused to discuss the incident that got her suspended in the first place.

Not even after lots of prodding, bribing, threatening and near begging on Maura's part. Alice would just shrug her questions off and change the subject until Maura had had enough, ultimately grounding her and confiscating all her beloved electronics. Needless to say, they had been playing the quiet game all morning.

Jane could sense the tension in the room as she delivered Maura's first cup of the day, whose attention was spent studying her daughter sitting on the couch at the other end of the room. Neither Isles women even raised their heads to acknowledge Jane before she spoke up.

"Good morning, Ms. Isles. Here's your coffee," said Jane, trying to inject nonchalance into her voice.

Maura accepted the coffee without taking her gaze off of Alice. She took a few sips before slowly turning her eyes to the woman standing in front of her, who had her hands linked behind her back and her eyes narrowly focused on an imaginary spot somewhere. Jane took that as her cue to start talking.

"I figured you'd want a few moments to settle in this morning, so I pushed you're 9:30 to 10:30. Also, Mark Finn called from the Jenson project to check up on the progress. I told him that everything was on schedule and that we are actually under budget, so he was really happy about that. At twelve I will go to get your lunch and if you're daughter wants something she can just tell me and I'll get it… Oh and your lawyer called… But that's pretty much it for today. Anything you guys need?" she asked, glancing between mother and daughter.

Maura sat quietly through her assistants morning prep. She curiously eyed Jane the entire time while she drank her coffee and she knew exactly why she wasn't her usual lighthearted self. She reached into her purse and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"Alice, take this and go to the fourth floor. There is a breakfast bar there and you can get whatever you want."

The girl eyed the money in her mother's outstretched hand. She moved her gaze to Jane and back to her mother before wordlessly getting up to get the money and leaving the office. Unfortunately for Jane, the tension in the air did not leave with her.

"Jane, we need to talk about yesterday."

"Yes, ma'am. I was completely out of line. She's_ your_ daughter and I'm just your assistant. My mother tells me it's my hot Italian temper, but sometimes it's just hard to sensor myself. I crossed the line and I understand. I'll just get my stuff and-" Maura silenced Jane by holding up her hand.

Maura leaned back in her chair and delicately placed her hands in her lap as she contemplated her assistant. For a long moment she just studied her with an impassive gaze then nodded to herself at the conclusion of her decision. Her elbows rested on the tabletop as she brought her fingers to her mouth and worried her bottom lip… before she finally cracked and a grin graced her lips.

"I'm not firing you," she shook her head.

Jane raised her eyebrows. She wasn't sure what to make of Maura's smile.

"You aren't?"

"No. You are an extremely hard worker. And honestly if it weren't for you I definitely wouldn't have gotten that deal yesterday."

Jane smiled and sighed in relief. She started to relax until she saw the smile on Maura's face drop.

"However, you were right. You crossed the line."

"Yes ma'am I-"

"Please. Don't interrupt me. Just listen." Jane shoved her sweaty hands into her pockets and gave a curt nod.

"What you said to my daughter was…well, it certainly kept her quiet the entire ride home. I can understand that you felt the need to step in when Alice was being so…unpleasant. But you have to understand that, that is _my_ job. I will discipline my children the way I see fit. Okay?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Isles," Jane mumbled continuing eye contact.

"No. I don't want you to apologize and I'm not angry with you. I actually feel like, maybe I should thank you. That Alice can definitely be a handful…always was. Just, from now on let me do the telling off," She said, amused.

When Jane only nodded this time, still holding her tongue, Maura rolled her eyes and shifted her gaze to her computer screen while trying to sound as casual as possible. "And stop being so nervous, I don't know what's gotten into you today," she shrugged.

Jane's answering smile preceded a shake of her head. "I know. I guess I can't help it. I just really need this job… I can't lose it." She was sure she would be packing up her stuff before midday and looking for a new job by morning.

Maura usually liked her subordinates to be off kilter, but something inside her wanted Jane to be as comfortable as possible. She told herself it was because of the big meeting today; she couldn't afford to have a bumbling idiot on her side.

"You won't. I need you too, you know."

Maura took another sip of her coffee as she fiddled with her mouse, pointedly avoiding eye contact, but when the silence had stretched out for too long, she looked up only to find inquiring brown eyes and a crooked grin beaming down at her. That's when she realized the implication of her words and felt faint.

Both adults cleared their throats at the same time.

Jane scratched the back of her neck, stepping backwards. "So! I'll just go do the… the stuff…" she mumbled.

"Yes, you should…" Maura couldn't stop nodding, "do that."

"Right. Later, boss." Jane almost gave an awkward salute but only nodded once before fully exiting the office and discarding her blazer, feeling a little warm.

She didn't notice she still had a huge grin on her face until her dimples started to ache a minute later. She just couldn't believe her ears. Maura Isles needed her. She didn't have long to bask in the awesomeness of that until she felt the heat of someone's eyes burning through her forehead. She looked up to see Alice standing near her mother's door with a yogurt and a bottled water.

"What…I mean, can I help you with something?" The girl seemed to be contemplating Jane. . _What was it with the Isles women and staring like that?_

"...Where did you learn to speak, Italian?"

"My family is Italian. My ma spoke Italian to me and my brothers at home until we learned it." Alice nodded her head and continued to consider the assistant. Jane sat back in her desk chair and decided to see what the girl's reasoning for speaking to her after their disagreement yesterday was.

"What about you?"

"I taught myself when I was twelve." She huffed swiftly turning around and pushing her way into her mother's office without a backwards glance. Jane chuckled to herself as she refocused on the planner. _Yeah, she's a handful. _

* * *

At precisely 9:45 am, Jane walked into her boss's office. She was sitting at her desk reading something on her computer, while Alice wrote something in her notebook.

"Ms. Isles are you ready for your prep?"

"Yes. I need you to run through the power point with me one more time."

She smiled pleasantly at her assistant who nodded and gathered the sketches and handed her the jump drive. She sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk and watched with notes in hand as Maura pulled up her Mac and began going through the presentation for the meeting.

"And if you look here you can see that we will bypass the marble floor of the foyer and go for a more modern look in using the parquet floor. I think it creates a cleaner finish and gives it an overall warmer feeling." She stopped and clasped her hands together smiling. Her smile sagged a little as her assistant only stared expectantly at her.

"What? What did I miss?"

"Okay, that was great. You talked about everything on the list very well, but you did forget to talk about your designs for the music studio room." Maura looked through the slides and couldn't find what her assistant was talking about.

"I don't see that anywhere." Jane got up from her chair and walked behind Maura.

"Well, actually we didn't put it in. I don't think we really discussed it that much, because you said it was a simple task that you've installed many times before."

"Oh, yes. Now I remember…I will suggest that we implement the basic paneling that is both easy and quick."

"Okay. Here, I'll add it to the presentation." Jane, leaned down behind her boss and stretched her arms out on either side of her. She typed as she whispered to herself, "I'll just stick it in there right between these two slides…" In her current position bent over her boss, mouth near her ear, long dark hair brushing her cheek, Jane only realized how close they were when her front slightly brushed Maura's back who then bolted straight up in her seat.

"S-Sorry. I'll just…" She raised the laptop over her head and took it with her to the other side of the desk. An intrigued Alice folded her arms and sat back on the couch, intently observing. Maura sat wondering where the hell that bolt of electricity came from. The skin around her neck had gotten slightly warm.

Maura ran her faintly shaky fingers across the forgivingly high neckline of her blouse as warmth tinged her skin. She could feel it more than see it, or understand it. _What was that reaction? _But before she could think more into it, Jane was done with the computer.

"There."

Maura quickly stood up, gathering all she needed. "We should head over there."

The assistant nodded and grabbed the Mac following behind her boss. Maura stopped before leaving out of the door and turned to her daughter.

"Stay in here."

"Really, mom. Where am I going to go? I suppose I could drive to…Oh, wait, I can't. You took away my car." Jane sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose before walking out of the door to the conference room.

The two women reached the conference room and Jane opened the door for Maura to walk in first. The action came so naturally that neither woman questioned it. Two men sat on each side of a large, cumbersome table, patiently waiting to be wowed. Maura smiled at them with a natural confidence.

"Good day, gentlemen. Are we ready?"

"Should we brace ourselves?" one of the men joked, feeding off of Maura's energy.

"I believe so," she smiled charmingly as Jane quickly got set up behind her. "I have quite a few ideas that I think you're going to love. Is there anything we can get you before we start?"

"No, we're fine. Thank you."

"This is my assistant, Jane Rizzoli." Jane gave a polite smile and small nod from her seat at the opposite side of the table. "If you change your mind, she'll take care of it. Now, let's get started."

* * *

Jane began to unwind the knots in her stomach as her boss neared the end of her presentation. She mentally checked off all of the ideas they had discussed as Maura went through them with the grace and professionalism that Jane wished she could one day have an ounce of. _She is so brilliant_.

"...I think it creates a cleaner finish and gives it an overall warmer feeling. If I am correct gentlemen, that warmth is exactly what you are looking for in your wonderful organization. Although I have thought this out, your opinion is what is the most important to me. So, if you have any suggestions that you personally want to see, just let me know."

Though this was a presentation, Maura had expected some kind of feedback throughout the meeting, but the business men were quiet the entire time. Taking her seat she laced her fingers on the table and waited for some sign that they at least didn't hate everything she said. Finally, a man with short brown hair cleared his throat.

"Well, Ms. Isles. I am sure that you are aware that you have quite the reputation." Maura's lungs constricted and her assistant snapped her head up with her eyes wide. "Some say you are the best architect on this side of the globe and I think I can speak for everyone at this table when I say that these plans you have…prove just that."

Maura released an inaudible sigh and tried to relax in her seat. She mentally shook herself for not thinking she could do this. Truth is, she thinks that about all of her projects.

"But…" Her smile drooped and she swallowed hard.

"I do have a couple of questions. Everything you said was very detailed; however, I wish that you would elaborate more on what your ideas for the student music studio are. What is it that you wanted to do with it?"

"Oh, of course. Forgive me. What I was thinking was with this being only a simple task, insulating this room would be one of the easier jobs. That being said we should go with a rudimentary design."

"Rudimentary? Ms. Isles nothing about this entire model that you have presented is rudimentary. All of your other ideas so far have been things I didn't even know we could do with a building. Is there anything else…state of the art that we could do?"

Jane watched her boss at the other end of the table confidently opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Her face suddenly changed and she seemed to be frozen. Looking from one business man to another, she began to stumble over her words.

"Well…you see I…uhm." Jane's heart banged harder and her blood turned to ice at the words the architect had just uttered. _Did she just say 'uhm'? _Her mind raced frantically trying to figure out what to do. For her boss to be reduced to the one word that she had made clear she despised, there must really be a problem. Quickly Jane glanced down at her phone and got an idea.

"Excuse me, Ms. Isles." She looked back up at her boss who was now furiously rubbing at her hands. She could just see the wheels turning in her head.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt you, but you have a phone call."

"Jane, I'm in the middle of a meeting."

"Yes ma'am, but it's from your daughter's school. It might be really important." Trying her hardest to somehow telepathically tell her boss to just trust her, she stood and opened the door holding the phone out to her. Maura looked from Jane back to the business partners and gave her best 'professional' smile.

"I'm very sorry gentlemen, but if you'll excuse me."

"It'll only take a minute," Jane said to the men who only smiled back and sipped their water.

Once outside Maura tried to question her assistant only to be rushed away from the conference room and into her office. They both entered and Jane swiftly turned around to face her confused employer.

"It's over already?" Alice looked up from her place on the couch.

"No. Jane what is this about? Do you know what you just did?"

"Do _you_ know? Ms. Isles you were kind of going off the rails there. I mean you even said the word 'uhm'." Maura looked taken aback. After the man had asked her the question about the music room her mind had completely gone blank. She tried to go through the designs that she had previously thought of that would work in this instance, but she couldn't think of a single thing. Ten years of ideas, gone.

"No, I didn't. I…really?"

"Yeah, you did. That's why I thought it was a good idea to get you out of there."

She looked gratefully up at her assistant. She really was good at knowing what to do in sticky situations. Maura's thoughts returned to her sticky situation. She had to go back in there and deliver an answer. The architect paced back and forth across the floor. She couldn't believe this was happening and noticed that she was having trouble catching her breath.

"What am I going to do? I mean I suppose we can go with the beveled wood siding, but will they think that's too ordinary as well. Maybe we can incorporate chipboard paneling…no that wouldn't fit with the rest of the décor of the building, not to mention the ceiling. Oh, god what do I do? What am I going to do?"

Jane watched as her boss frantically walked back and forth while spouting out random plans. She reminded herself that this was not the time to panic even though she had never seen this part of Maura. This frazzled woman who was now…_What _is _she doing? _Her boss was now standing in the middle of the room breathing sporadically while holding two fingers to her pulse point.

"What am I going to do?"

"Well, first of all stop doing that." She walked up to her and pulled her hand from her neck as the woman tried to regulate her breathing.

"Sorry. Vasoconstriction. Hypercapnia."

"Sure…look everything is fine, I…I have an idea. I was thinking that we could use acoustical paneling."

Maura's breathing slowed as she thought through the logistics. It would definitely work and it seemed to make blatant sense to use it in a room where a lot of sound would be produced.

"That is...a really good idea. Wow, Jane. That's excellent."

"Thanks. I used it in my senior dissertation."

"Don't get me wrong it is a very innovative idea, but…it's yours."

"Yeah, but I don't mind really. If you like it use it."

"Are you sure? I don't want to-"

"Ms. Isles, I would be absolutely honored if you actually liked something of mine so much that you used it. Only if you want to." Maura nodded her head. She really did want to use the idea. It made total and complete sense and she was only upset that it hadn't occurred to her.

"Okay," She said with a final nod of her head.

"Let's get you back in there."

When they returned to the conference room the men were talking and looking over the designs in the preview booklets. Jane wondered how it was that her boss could instantly regain her confidence. She walked to the front of the room with her head held high and primly took her seat.

"Everything okay?"

"Everything is excellent. Now, where were we?"

"I believe we were talking about the music room. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve?"

"I sure do." Maura smiled over at her assistant who gave her own crooked grin.

* * *

Maura sat almost giddily in her chair. After the meeting, she had thanked Jane profusely as they discussed how much the clients loved her idea. When she got back to her office, however, her mood was dampened a little as she discovered her daughter still silently brooding by the couch. By the time lunch rolled around, she was beginning to wonder if her daughter was ever going to speak to her about what happened.

Alice was a straight 'A' student. She was trilingual and her school's current valedictorian. Maura couldn't even fathom what some girl could possibly say to her that would make her risk all of her accomplishments. She put her pen down on the desk and straightened up in her chair to peer at her daughter who was now sitting on the floor with several books.

"Alice…what did that girl say to you?" The girl looked up at her mother and then back down to her book, ignoring her.

"You know you can tell me anything, don't you. I can't promise that I will understand right away, but I _can_ promise that I will try my hardest to. I love you, Alice. You know that, right?" She slowly raised her head. Her eyes seemed to want to say something, but her mouth remained closed. Maura was about to press again when her office phone rang. Looking over at the time, she answered her phone.

"Yes, Jane?"

"It's lunch time Ms. Isles. I was going to go over to the deli down the street that you like so much and pick up your usual. Does that sound good? Oh, and would Alice like anything?" Maura looked over to her daughter.

"Actually, we're going to go to the country club for lunch. Thank you though, Jane."

"Oh…of course. Are you driving or do you want me to call a car."

"I was going to invite you to eat with us and…you know…maybe you could drive again."

"Are you sure, Ms. Isles?"

"Oh come on. You're not still afraid of my car are you? But you handled it so well yesterday." Alice looked up at her mother's teasing tone.

"Hey, now. I did do well. I didn't crash it at least. And I would love to come. I'll just have all of your calls redirected to my cell." Maura looked over to her assistant through the glass and grinned.

"Great, because I really do owe you one for what you did in that meeting."

"Ms. Isles you don't-"

"Yes, I do. Go get the car and we'll be down in a minute."

"Yes, boss."

The drive to the country club was relatively uneventful. Jane tried to avoid Ali's eyes in the review mirror and she even contained her led foot. When they finally reached the country club Jane rushed over to the passenger side and opened the doors for both Isles women. However, walking into the dining area, Jane felt a little awkward.

"Hello, Mrs. Isles. Is there anywhere specific you would like to sit this evening?"

"Anywhere is fine Jefferson." He gave a quick nod and began to walk further into the restaurant with menus in hand. Jane began to follow behind before Jefferson whipped around and stopped her.

"I'm sorry can I help you with something? If you're looking for the waiter's entrance, it's around the back." Alice snorted quickly moving her hand up to cover her smile.

"I don't work here." Jane stuttered through her shock. _A waiter? Really?_

"Oh no, Jefferson. She's with me. This is my assistant." He carefully looked her up and down. Scrutinizing eyes trailed from her shoes, over her pants suit, and up to her curly hair.

"Sure. Follow me." They all started walking again and Jane's ears burned from embarrassment. Without thinking she walked behind Maura and pulled out her seat before taking her own.

"Thank you, Jane." They smiled at each other before taking there menu's and ordering. Maura sat patiently while they waited for their meals. She tried to not focus on the fact that Jane was here having lunch at her country club. Never had she _ever_ invited an assistant to eat lunch with her _anywhere _let alone to the club where currently all eyes were on them. However, Jane had gone above and beyond the call of an assistant with giving her the credit for her idea.

"Is that all you ladies are eating?" Jane joked. She looked down to their salads, and then back to her own burger and fries.

"Well, I'm not really _that _hungry."

"But you've only had coffee this morning." Maura shrugged her shoulders and began to eat.

"What about you Alice?" Jane was encouraged by their short conversation earlier that day to try her luck in talking to the girl. She swallowed and sighed before answering.

"Not everyone enjoys the taste of a dead animal."

"Wait, you're…vegetarians? But I get your lunch from the deli." Maura vigorously shook her head as she took a sip of her water.

"No. _Alice _is a vegetarian, all of a sudden. I have a bet with her brother, Jacob as to how long it will last." Alice gasped at this and a small smile graced her lips.

"Mom!" Maura shook her head as she started laughing herself.

"I'm sorry honey, but sometimes you don't follow through with these things. Remember your soda kick?"

She looked at her mother suspiciously who only stared back at her with her own scandalous eye brow raised. Then a burst of laughter flowed from the girl's throat. It took Jane by surprise and she couldn't help but stare at the young girl's bright smile. _Just like her mother. _Alice noticed Jane looking at her and quickly sobered, dropping her smile and remembering that she's supposed to be angry. For the rest of the lunch any conversation was brought up by Jane or her boss.

"Ms. Isles, if you don't mind I would like to pick up the check. It's kind of cool that you would invite your assistant to your swanky country club."

"That's very generous of you, Jane. However, there isn't an actual bill. The Isles family has a tab set up here, so we can just leave whenever we are finished," Maura said as they all stood and headed for the door. Before they got into the car Maura glanced at her assistant over the hood.

"Thanks, again."

"Really, you've got to stop that. It was…" She tucked her bottom lip into her mouth as she thought, "…my pleasure." She smiled at her boss before ducking into the car.

* * *

The next day, Jane went into her boss's office still riding yesterday's high. She couldn't stop smiling. Not only had she contributed something really important to her employer's project, but she ate a burger at a fancy restaurant and it didn't come out of her bank account.

"Jane. Just in time. I sent Alice to the breakfast bar, but I forgot to ask her to get me something as well. Would you go down and catch her for me?"

"Sure. What would you like?"

"A banana? Oh, and see if they have any of those raspberry muffins as well."

"You got it, boss." Jane left the office and headed up on the elevator. She immediately spotted the girl checking out the fruits.

"What are you, now? My body guard." She stopped in her tracks and reminded herself. _Boss's daughter._

"Last time I checked, you were stuck here because you can handle yourself in fight."

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do," the girl shrugged.

"I couldn't agree more. Your mom wanted me to tell you to grab her a banana and a raspberry muffin. If that's not too much ask, princess." Jane smirked as she turned to walk away.

"My Mom must really like you to use your idea. She never really listens to anyone about her work." Jane turned back to face the girl.

"She must really like you too. My mother would never put up with your nonsense."

"She only puts up with it because she has better things to focus on. Like work." The assistant shook her head and tensed her jaw.

"You aren't as smart as I thought. Or else you would have figured it out by now."

"Figured what out?" she said, slightly offended by the first part of the statement.

"Maura puts up with you because you _are_ more important than work. She loves you, otherwise she wouldn't have bothered fighting for custody. You know that client we're dealing with right now? Believe it or not she was ready to ditch them to go get you from school before I offered."

"She didn't have to come get me."

"She didn't realize she had a choice…What does that tell you?" She waltzed away leaving the girl with folded arms to consider her words.

When Alice got back upstairs she walked straight to her mother's office and avoided eye contact with Jane. What the assistant had said to her struck a chord in her. She walked over to her mother's desk placing the breakfast in front of her.

"Thank you sweetie," She said without glancing up, but her attention was soon drawn to the girl. She didn't go back to the couch that she had inhabited all day yesterday, but instead sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk.

Maura and Alice staring at each other before the latter spoke.

"It's true, isn't it?"

"What, sweetheart?" Maura asked curiously and tilted her head to the side.

"…Daddy." Her pen immediately dropped out of her hand and her mouth went dry. She hadn't anticipated having this conversation.

* * *

**A/N: Don't forget to review:) They literally make my life better. Also, big thanks to dagorob for helping me with my Italian! You're awesome! You are all awesome!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, guys. First of all let me say that I was thoroughly embarrassed (in a good way) in front of my roommates, because I kept giggling and hopping up and down when I was reading your reviews from last chapter. They completely blew me away. Thank you all so much for reading and you are all amazing. Also, this chapter is kind of long. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"About Daddy…"

Maura watched her dropped pen roll from side to side before it finally came to a stop on the tabletop. Time itself seemed to have stop in that moment. She gently cleared her throat while struggling to look Ali directly in the eyes.

"What _about_ your father?" she almost stammered.

"Mom." The cock of her head told her that she wasn't buying it.

"Yes?"

"Did he… Did Daddy cheat on you?" That was the most uncomfortable question she'd ever asked her mother, and Maura was having just as hard a time hearing it and she shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Where did you… What would make you think something like that?"

"That's why I got in a fight at school. That girl Jessica was going around yesterday telling everyone in AP Cal that Dad was a _slore_ and that he-"

"A slore?"

"Yeah, a slut and a whore. I know, Jessica speaks as if she's linguistically challenged sometimes. Anyway…she said that she heard her parents talking about it and they said that he had more than one affair. Did he?"

Maura's breath hitched; not only at the realization that her secret was no secret at all, but more importantly, how was she supposed to answer that? A simple _yes_ at the risk of shattering her daughter's relationship with her father? A difficult _no_ at the risk of being caught lying and shattering her daughter's relationships with both her parents?

Maura swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She realized that her best bet for coming out of this with the least amount of pain would have to be to change the subject. She slid her glasses off the bridge of her nose and reached across the desk to hold her daughter's hands, surprised and relieved when Ali lets her.

"Sweetheart, your father loves you very much and-"

"Just tell me, Mom." _Well that didn't work._

Maura stared at their joined hands for a long moment, trying not to be overwhelmed by emotions. Her teenage daughter was asking if her father is an infidel, and as much as a part of her wanted to give an emphatic yes and have Ian be on the receiving end of one of Ali's French-speaking tirades, she hesitated. Her children weren't pawns in a twisted game of revenge. This wasn't about having her daughter on her side; this simply just wasn't a conversation one should have to have with their child at all, but then again, that's where Maura realized there was a loophole.

The girl may have child_ish_ tendencies, but Alice Isles was no longer a child. She was more street smart than some people gave her credit for, more mature than most would guess, but much more sensitive than anyone realized. Had Maura been upfront from the beginning, her daughter wouldn't have walked around acting and reacting based on lies and false assumptions. She deserved for her mother to be able to trust her with the truth. Realizing that honesty may ultimately be the only way, Maura gave her hand a squeeze.

"Yes," she gave a solemn nod, "He did."

Alice's sigh resembled relief, but was really deep disappointment. She shook her head and withdrew her hands to fidget in her lap as she avoided her mother's eyes. "More than once?" Maura shook her head at the situation, feeling bad for the girl, but answered anyway.

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Alice-"

"How many?"

"…Three." Alice suddenly stood up and stepped away as if someone had hit her in the chest. She was a 'Daddy's Girl' through and through and now... She couldn't believe that her father would do something like this, and for some reason she didn't quite understand, it felt like a betrayal to her and her brother as well as her mother. She faced the back wall and covered her trembling face with both hands as she began to sob.

Maura instantly rose to her feet and walked over. "Oh, baby. Come here. It's okay." She gently pulled the girl into her arms, rubbing smooth circles on her back. "It's going to be okay," she said as she cradled her daughter's head against her shoulder. Alice eventually relaxed her body and let the tears come as she held on to her mother, gripping her tighter and bunching up the silk shirt between her fingers.

"I'm so sorry," Alice admitted in a broken whisper. They hadn't ever really gotten along, especially since Ali hit puberty (her father said it's because they were too alike), but Alice did love her mother. More than she ever expressed. Maura pulled back to look at her daughter and she smoothed down her hair as she cradled her face.

"Sweet girl… It is _not_ your fault. None of this is your fault, okay?" She carried on even when Ali shook her head and tried to interrupt. "No, no. Your father and I… we just couldn't get it right. That's on us, not you, sweetheart. But we both love you and your brother very much." Maura spoke with as much conviction as she could muster considering that she was now seeing Alice, who never cried, painfully red faced and with tears spilling from her eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry about."

"Yes, I do. I'm sorry about how I've been acting towards you. I just thought the reason you and Dad split up was because you're always working. I heard you guys arguing right before he moved out, and he said that if you didn't stop working so much he'd leave. I was angry at you because I thought you loved your work more than us." She sniffled and wiped angrily at the constant stream of tears. "I've been a terrible brat."

A sad smile accompanied the sympathetic furrow of Maura's brows. "Listen to me. You and your brother are the number one most important things in my life. How I feel about my work doesn't even remotely compare to how much I care about you kids. Look at me," Maura tilted her chin up with her pointer finger and two pairs of watery hazel green orbs reflected each other's fears. "I love you more than life itself."

She brought both of her hands to the sides of her daughters face and helped wipe away the tears with her thumbs. The girl looked five years old as she snuggled her cheek against her mother's hand. She raised her hands to grip her mother's wrists. Anchoring herself.

"And when I promised you guys I would stop working so much, I meant it. I won't lie…it is hard, because so many people depend on me, but I _am_ trying."

"I know Mom. I'm sorry I've been ignoring that. I know I don't tell you a lot, but I _do_ love you."

Maura instantly broke out into a smile. Unshed tears burned even stronger behind her eyes, but these tears were to wash away pain instead of spreading it around. It felt like a weight had been lifted.

"And I… I like your shoes," Ali added. They both burst out into laughter. The tension subsiding when they suddenly heard a soft knock at the door. They both turned still grasping one another to see half of Jane's body peeking through the door with a subtle smile on her face.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked with a hint of concern even though the scene before her warmed her heart a bit.

"No, we were just… having a moment. What is it?" Maura responded dabbing a finger at the corners of her eyelids.

"I was gonna page you," Jane said as she stepped more fully into the room, a hand in her pocket while the other gestured, "but you guys seemed to be busy. Today's staff meeting was canceled because Mr. Fairfield had some family thing going on."

"Oh, do I have any other scheduled meetings for today?"

"Nope. That was it." Maura bit her bottom lip in thought, then turned to look to her daughter with excitement written all over her face. "So, you really like my shoes, do you?"

"Yeah…" Ali raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing her mother.

"Well! What do you say we take the day off and see if we can find you a few other pairs that you might like?"

The girl's mouth fell open. "Really? We're going shopping?!" she squealed.

Maura genuinely laughed at her teenage daughter's reaction. At least she could still act her age every once in a while. "Yes, we're going shopping. Just you and I."

"Ms. Isles, you don't have any meetings, but you did say you wanted to review the budgets for _all_ your existing projects." Jane, said hating to be the bearer of bad news. Alice immediately stopped grinning at the news that her mother had to work, but her mother simply shook her head.

"I already promised my daughter, so we'll just have to stay a little later tomorrow."

Jane nodded, not really minding that. Alice, though, was reluctant.

"No, it's fine Mom. You don't have to. If it's important you should do that instead of-"

"And miss going shopping with my only daughter? What could possibly be more important?" Those words reminded Jane of her own mother. Alice surprised Maura with a warm side-hug to which she naturally responded with a peck on the girl's forehead.

"Okay then." Jane interjected as she moved backwards. "I guess I'll see you ladies tomorrow. Enjoy the shopping strip… I mean trip. Wait, it's called a strip mall, right? Or maybe I…I'm just gonna…yeah."

Before the ladies could even register Jane's words, Jane slipped out of the room and slumped into her desk chair. She began rubbing her temples. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

"Jane?"

She looked up to find her employer standing beside her desk wrapped in her coat. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you take the day off as well?"

"Are you sure? I could probably find something to do around here."

"Of course I'm sure. Seriously, there's no reason for you to stay here... You do have a life outside this office, don't you?" she joked, narrowing her eyes at Jane in challenge.

"Actually," Jane pretended to be contrite, "my sleeping bag's right under this desk and I clean up in the coin fountain out front."

"You clean up well," retorted Maura, making Jane's smirk even cockier.

Alice watched on as both adults shared a brief laugh before the assistant stood up from her chair and started to pack up her things. "Thanks... for the day off, I mean."

"You're very welcome. Until tomorrow then."

"See you, boss." Jane kept her head down as she packed her stuff away to hide her grin as mother and daughter walked away arm in arm. Then Alice stopped and turned around to Jane.

"Ciao, Jane."

Jane looked between the two, surprise momentarily paralyzing her speech. She looked over to Maura who only shrugged her shoulders before being dragged away toward the elevators.

"Ciao, Little Miss Sunshine," she whispered.

* * *

So, what does a working-class workaholic do on her day off? Jane tap-tap-tapped her fingers away on the steering wheel as she drove around without any real direction. Even though she had brought up the idea of getting a day off before, she hadn't thought that much about what she'd spend it doing. Her life pretty much revolved around work at this point; her boss made sure of that. In fact that lunch at the Country Club had felt like a vacation, so what was she to do with an entire day to herself?

_I guess I could go home, but I'd only end up trying to watch the backlog of baseball games I have. It couldn't hurt to pay a visit to the gym. Ugh…yeah it would. Maybe, I should just go to the library and catch up on some Architectural Digest. No, then I'll end up thinking about work. Maura…that's such a pretty name. Is that Irish? That would make sense with her flawless freckled skin. Well, either way it's just as pretty as she is._

Jane snapped out of her thoughts and looked around at the familiar surroundings. Realization hit her and she let out a whining groan. _Really? Here?_ She cut the engine anyway and got out of her car. Before she could raise her hand to knock, the door swung open.

"Janie!"

Jane smiled back easily, inhaling to relay her own greeting, only for all of the air to be squished out of her lungs by a crushing hug.

"Hey, Ma," she choked out.

"Well, don't just stand here. Come inside!" Angela Rizzoli beamed as she pulled her prodigal daughter into the house and led her further inside. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Don't tell me you got fired. You and that mouth of yours-"

"Jesus, Ma. Would you relax?" Angela huffed and crossed her arms but became silent. "I just have the day off," shrugged Jane as she discarded her blazer.

Her mother eyed her suspiciously. "I don't believe you. You never have the day off."

"Wha-, yes I do." She scrunched up her face in disbelief and raised her eyebrows.

"I have weekends off… sometimes… at night... Whatever, I'm here now. You're always nagging me to come over and now that I'm here you give me that look."

"Mmhmm..." hummed the older Rizzoli woman.

"So, are we gonna just stand here or are you gonna offer me some of that amazing lasagna I smell?" she rubbed her hands together, salivating as she looked towards the kitchen. God, she had missed her Ma's cooking. Her mother only smirked, knowing her daughter too well, and entered the kitchen with Jane close behind.

"So she just _gave_ you a day off?" After having a seat at the island, Jane snuck her finger into a pot to taste her mother's homemade sauce.

"Mm… She took a personal day."

"Personal? Something to do with the divorce?"

"How'd you know about that?" She furrowed her brows, trying to distract her mother as she went in for another taste of sauce, but was swatted away.

"It was in the paper last week. Even made the headline." Angela found the old newspaper in one of the kitchen drawers. "Here," she said, placing it in front of Jane, who was inconspicuously licking her finger again.

**'Esteemed architect: building people's dreams and watching her's crumble.**' Jane read to herself.

"Really? This was the biggest story of the day? Journalism is officially dead."

"Any idea why she's getting a divorce?"

Jane kept her eyes on the captioned picture of Maura walking out of the courthouse. Her face was neutral but Jane could see she was sad. She sighed. "Uh…," she started to answer her mother's question but thought for a second. She didn't really know all the details of her boss's personal life, but she worked around detectives for the better part of three years, so she had her suspicions.

"Not sure… but I think her husband cheated on her."

Her mother gasped. "Are you serious?"

Jane shrugged her shoulders, "We don't really talk about that stuff."

"Mm. I couldn't imagine. She doesn't look like the kind of woman someone would cheat on." Angela spread the sauce onto the noodles and looked up when her daughter slammed the newspaper down.

"I know right! Not that anyone deserves to be cheated on, but... Like, why would anyone in their right mind cheat on someone who is so… so beautiful and talented and smart and… and beautiful. You know?" Jane ran her fingers through her hair and reached for a baby tomato, popping it into her mouth. Noticing her mother's glare, she paused mid-chew.

"Jane?"

"What?"

"You think your boss is beautiful?"

Jane slowly resumed chewing and swallowed loudly before answering. "Well, yeah. I mean, I guess. You just said so yourself, right?"

"I was talking about her being so rich."

"Oh." Seeing no fault in what she just said, she rolled her shoulders and reached for another tomato.

Angela wore a different smile now. "So, you think she's beautiful? What else do you like about her?"

Jane looked off at a random spot as she thought out loud, not catching on to her mother's ulterior motive. "She's _really_ smart."

"Yeah? What else?"

"She's an amazing architect."

"Go on."

"I don't know what else, Ma. She's a good mother? Wait, why are you-" Jane straightened her back and looked squarely in her mother's mischievous eyes when clarity washed over her. "Ma. It's not like that."

"What?" she replied, looking the picture of innocence, "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

"I mean, she _is_ beautiful, Janie." She held up the newspaper as proof.

"Well, nobody asked you, Yenta. Can I eat now, or are you holding that lasagna hostage?"

They both smiled and before her mother could think of a retort the swinging door opened up behind Jane. She turned to see her brother who, without hesitation, lifted her off the ground and squeezed her tightly. He kissed her cheek and placed her back down on the ground before she could fight it.

"What are you doing here, sis? Aren't you supposed to be out kidnapping puppies for Cruella de Vil?"

"Really? Aren't you supposed to be out there handing out speeding tickets to drag-racing grannies?"

They both grinned and shoved each other around a bit before their mother reminded them that there was no rough housing inside of the house. "Your brother's here for lunch."

"Just finished up my double shift. Are you staying, or do you have to get back on your leash soon?" Jane punched him in the arm again before trapping him in a head lock.

"You know, Janie," he said already out of breath, "I am a cop. I can easily get out of this."

"Oh really? Try me."

He flailed his arms around and tried placing his feet in different stances. His sister only laughed and tightened her grip. He finally tapped out when he started to see dots in his vision and she let him go.

"You're just… lucky I'm… tired," he said in-between shallow breaths.

"Frankie, I could beat you at anything, anytime, anywhere. Your choice." She gave a challenging stare. She'd missed this playful rivalry they had between them, especially the part where she beats him almost every time.

"Alright, fine. Basketball. Right now."

Jane laughed in his face as he started unbuttoning his uniform shirt.

"Oh, no you two don't. You're gonna get all hot and sweaty and then come back in here dripping all over the kitchen and the food."

"Come on, Ma. Lunch won't be ready for a while. Plus, _someone's_ gotta teach him a lesson," Jane turned to her brother and rolled up her sleeves.

"First to 10 wins. Backyard rules," Jane said tying up her hair.

"You're on."

Angela watched her grown children practically sprint out of the backdoor. It felt good to have them all back together. For a little while, at least.

* * *

"Good morning, Jane. What do we- Oh, my goodness."

Jane looked up from her desk to her boss's terrified face. She knew Maura would notice it, but she wasn't expecting such a reaction.

"You should see the other guy," she quipped, trying to dissuade Maura's worry.

"What happened?" she asked walking up to Jane's desk and giving her a closer look.

"Nothing, really. My brother and I were just playing some basketball yesterday. He must've realized I was whooping his butt and caught me right in the nose. I don't think it's broken though, so I won't need any time off or anything."

"I'm tempted to give it to you anyway. Your nose is…" Maura winced, "well, at least it's not disfiguring."

"It's not?"

"It's a simple hairline fracture. The nasal bone above the lateral nasal cartilage. Did you ice it?" Jane nodded and tilted her head.

"How do you know that stuff you just said?"

"Oh, I… I'm just interested in a variety of topics, like science, for example… Any kind of general knowledge really."

"That was general knowledge… right." Jane smirked delighted at this new insight into her boss's character.

"I could pop that out if you want."

"Really? You're not gonna like, make it worse?" Jane was wary but slowly stood anyway.

"Don't you trust me?" Jane scoffed and immediately regretted it when a sharp pain went through her tender nose. "Honestly, Jane. I give you one day off, and this happens."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault," Jane defended as she slickly perched herself on the edge of the desk.

"Of course not. Might hurt a little."

"Okay," she nodded, permitting the architect to play doctor to her assistant.

Maura gently tilted Jane's chin from side to side, looking for the best angle. Slowly still, she placed her fingertips in place and then quickly jerked her hand.

"Ow! Fuck!" Jane gasped and instinctively reached up for her face, willing her eyes not to water. Concerned she may have further aggravated Jane's injury, Maura closely inspected her work.

"I warned you it would hurt."

"Damn it, Maura. A little?"

"Don't be such a baby. Now, sit still so I can see."

Jane rolled her eyes as the pain eventually went from searing and dulled to a throb while Maura touched her face some more, trying to hide her own smile. She wanted to laugh so badly at Jane's outburst and her string of curse words then she felt Jane's hands on her wrists and realized how close they actually were.

The atmosphere grew thick.

"Did it work?" Jane whispered, looking directly into Maura's eyes.

Maura looked back at her as she lowered her hands from Jane's face. "Yes, you'll live." They shared a smile. "But I will be needing my hands back at some point."

Jane stared at her for a second longer before teasingly sliding her hands away. "Sorry," she shrugged with an unapologetic smirk. "And thanks for the…" she gestured to her nose.

"Of course," Maura cleared her throat, taking a step back. "So what's up for today?"

Jane leaned backwards to grab the planner. "Well… you have to call Mr. Finn as soon as you can, and then we're off to the Parker Project's construction site. And the board meeting was rescheduled for this afternoon."

"Okay, come and get me in thirty minutes and we'll go."

"You got it, Ms. Isles. Enjoy your coffee."

As she walked away, Maura found herself disappointed that Jane didn't use her first name again.

* * *

Throughout the day, Jane noticed that Maura was not her usual self. Well, as usual as one can be in the middle of a divorce while juggling kids and three work projects. When they were at the construction site, she didn't seem as optimistic as she was coming out of that meeting a couple of days ago, but Jane also noticed something else.

Later that same day, she walked into her boss's office once more to find her staring at a document, but not really reading it. "I've been meaning to ask you. Where's Alice today?" she started casually.

"School," was the clipped reply.

Jane pressed on anyway. "Oh. I thought her suspension was for three days?"

Maura sighed heavily and sat back in her chair. "It was. They counted the date of suspension as day one. So she had to go back to school today… Which means she'll be staying with her father for the rest of the week."

Now Jane understood. Maura missed her daughter. "Oh. Sorry. Did you at least enjoy your time shopping?"

Maura chuckled lightly at a memory, "Yes, Jane. We actually did enjoy our shopping _strip_."

Jane groaned in slight embarrassment but laughed along. "I'll never live that down, will I?"

"Not on your life," she smiled as Jane took a seat. "Ali and I had a great time. We even had a long talk about some things. Her feelings about the divorce, mostly. We still have a long way to go with our relationship, but we're finally working on it. I even found out she has a boyfriend."

Jane gasped, "Lord help him."

"Be nice."

Jane put her hands up in surrender.

"I had no idea she was even dating, but I'm glad she's finally opening up to me. That's all I ever wanted. It feels like I got my daughter back." Maura looked down and blushed at her own admission. Whenever she spoke with Jane, all sorts of things seemed to just reveal themselves.

"I'm really happy for you," Jane said simply, but sincerely.

"Thank you."

"Well." Jane stood up and glanced at her wristwatch. "Seems it's quitting time, boss. I'll just be waiting to walk you out."

"Oh no, Ms. Rizzoli. You have to help me with these budgets." Jane cursed herself for forgetting about them. They had rescheduled doing them because of the impromptu personal day.

"Oh that's right. Where should we start?" Maura stood and led them over to the couch. Jane tried not to wince at the size of the stack that Maura handed her.

"You go over this half for any errors or over-expenditures and I will start on these. It shouldn't take long."

Jane raised a skeptical brow and pulled her unruly curls up into a ponytail. "Last one to finish is a rotten egg," she joked.

Maura bumped her shoulder and countered. "How about last one to finish buys dinner."

"You are so on."

They got to work. Neither talked for a while after that until Maura broke the comfortable silence. "So, your brother must be relatively strong to almost break your nose."

Jane scoffed and raised her eyebrows. "It was a lucky shot," she laughed. "But I guess it's like a requirement with him being a cop and all."

"A cop? So it runs in the family?"

"What does?"

"Being a cop. How does your mother feel about both of her children being in law enforcement?"

She watched as her assistant's face changed from a blank stare, to confusion, and finally to amusement as she bent over the side of the couch laughing. At the sight, Maura couldn't help but smile.

"What? What's so funny?"

"You…you think…I'm not…" Jane continued to laugh. She held her side and tried to speak between gasps. "You keep saying that."

"Saying what?"

"That I'm a cop. When we first met you said that not even Boston's finest could handle this job. You think I'm a cop."

"Well weren't you?" Jane shook her head, trying to contain the huge grin spread across her face.

"I'm flattered but no. Actually I was a criminal sketch artist." Maura shook her head. This entire time she had thought that the reason why Jane had been on BPD's payroll was because she was an officer.

"Wow. So you drew actual people?"

"Yeah, don't believe me?" It sounded a lot like a challenge, so Maura bit.

"Maybe I don't."

Eager to show off, instead of a sarcastic retort, the tall brunette got up and exited the office. She took her time, but before Maura could call after her, Jane was walking back and sitting on the couch with a sketchpad in her hand. Wordlessly, she placed it in her boss's hands.

"What's this?"

Maura carefully opened it and flipped through the pages in utter awe. The first few drawings were of an older woman, who Maura gathered to be related to Jane somehow because of the resemblance. Her mother, perhaps.

"Wow." They were so beautifully done. Then she came across a picture of two boys with their arms wrapped around each other. They were also clearly related to Jane with their distinct cheek bones, dark hair, and broad shoulders.

"That one's not so good," Jane provided commentary as she scooted closer to Maura.

Maura shook her head, wide-eyed. "I think they're all amazing."

"Eh, I did that when I was like twelve."

Maura gave her a quick glance. "You've had this for that long?" Jane only gestured with her hand for Maura to keep going.

She browsed through more and more sketches. Some were obviously her family and some were of beautiful Bostonian woodlands. She even recognized a few buildings that _she_ had designed. She looked up at Jane to gauge her reaction and saw a slight blush began to appear.

Then towards the middle of the book, Maura noticed more and more sketches of the same woman. One with her on what seemed like a porch swing. The next of her running with her hands happily above her head and her mouth open mid-laugh.

"Who is _she_?" Maura wondered out loud.

"Oh, She-" Jane cut off her sentence before she snatched the pad out of her boss's hand. Maura only caught a glimpse of the next sketch but what she saw made her ears hot. The same beautiful woman was lying on a bed with her hair splayed across the pillow. Her eyes were closed and the drawing started from the middle of her stomach to the top of her head. And she was topless.

Jane was mortified. "I am so sorry! I totally forgot that was in there." She scrambled to stuff loose sketches into her pad when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Who is she?" asked Maura softly, her curiosity sufficiently peaked.

Jane halted her movements and released a half sigh half awkward laugh. "She's… she, uh, _was_ my… girlfriend."

Maura looked perplexed for just a second before she understood. That made so much sense. "So, you're a les-"

"Yeah. I am."

They sat in a thick uncomfortable silence. Jane looked at the ground while Maura thought of something to say. She knew Jane was a little uncomfortable, but so was she and not for the reason Jane may have been thinking.

Jane wanted to literally sink into the couch. This was definitely something she never planned on sharing. If only she had remembered to take out that freaking sketch. "Is that a problem for you?"

Maura squeezed her shoulder to bring her back into the conversation. "No! It doesn't bother me at all."

Her words seemed to convince Jane who sighed in relief. "I didn't really mean for that to come out like this. That was unprofessional."

"What's her name?"

Jane was surprised that Maura was so interested. She opened the sketch pad and looked at the first picture of her ex. She smiled as she ran her thumb across the sketch. "Amanda."

"What happened to her?"

Before Jane could respond, there was a loud bang on the office door. Maura glanced out the window to see that it was clearly too late for anyone else to be in the building. She was usually the last to leave, so she wondered who it could be.

Her assistant stood up and went over to check. Opening the door only slightly Jane said, "Excuse me, Sir. Can I help you?"

"You can move out of my way, for one."

Maura instantly stiffened. She could recognize that accent anywhere. She quickly rose to her feet as he pushed his way into the office and stopped in the middle of the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with Jane returning to her side. He looked angry. Almost manic.

"We need to talk… Alone," he said staring pointedly at Jane. She carefully looked the man up and down before addressing her boss.

"Do you want me to stay or call security?"

"That won't be necessary, but thank you."

"Alright. I'll be right outside." Jane walked past him with a warning glare, slightly brushing his shoulder and closed the door.

"You have some nerve coming here. What do you want, Ian?"

* * *

***Ciao-Bye**

**A/N: Thoughts? Oh, by the way, I had to do some serious rescheduling and will now be updating on Monday's. Thanks for your support:)**

**XO Jay**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh, goodness; almost 200 follows! You guys are amazing! Thanks for your awesome favorites, follows and reviews. Also, thanks to rehellams for inspiring me:)**

* * *

The tension in Maura's office was thick with contempt. Her day had had a bitter premise, so why was she surprised it was about to end on the same sour note. Her ex-husband was exactly the last person on earth she wanted to see.

"You have _some_ nerve coming here. What do you want, Ian?" Maura came around the coffee table as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively, having already decided that no excuse he had would be good enough.

"Maura, what the hell were you thinking?" he snapped at her.

Her eyebrows lifted in shock at the nerve of this man. "Excuse me? How dare you raise your voice at me in my own office? I suggest you calm down before-."

"Do **not** tell me what I need to do! You promised not to tell the kids about the affair. Yet, after spending a few days with you, I now have a moody teenager on my hands who walks around screaming at me and slamming doors!"

She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes. "Well, now you know how _I_ felt. And maybe you should have thought about your children _before_ you decided to go sleep with everything in a skirt."

"Give me a break. I already said that was a mistake. What more do you want?"

"A mistake?! A mistake is maybe when it happens once, but when you cheat repeatedly with three _different _women, that's not a mistake. That is a lifestyle. And exactly what was I supposed to do? She asked me about it directly and I simply refuse to lie to my children about anything. And for what? So you can save face and have people continue to believe what a good man you are? Well, I'm done enabling you, Ian. You can keep playing this game all you want, but not with my children."

Jane stood quietly on the other side of the door, trying hard not to eavesdrop on her boss's private conversation, but she got a bad vibe from this Ian character and she wanted to make sure things didn't get out of hand. All she could hear at that point were raised voices going back and forth, but she anticipated things would start being thrown around whenever their voices couldn't go any louder. She debated with herself about whether or not to step in before anything escalated, but remembered how the last time she did, she almost got into trouble.

"They're mine too! You are such a selfish bitch!"

Before she realized it, Jane barged into the room with fire in her eyes, immediately locking them on Ian as she addressed Maura. "Everything okay in here, boss?" she asked, staring straight at Ian. She noticed his close proximity to Maura and it instantly made her uneasy.

"This conversation is between my wife I, so if you could just leave us alone, that'd be great," he snarked.

"Don't you mean _ex-wife_?" retorted Jane, moving closer to him.

His sharp gaze grew darker. He looked genuinely insulted as he turned to Maura and said, "You can't just let her talk to me like that."

"Well, she's right, isn't she? And you will not order me around or anyone else I'm associated with for that matter. But don't worry, I'm sure you could find one of your little whores to order around."

Jane swiftly put herself between the bickering exes before Ian could take even one enraged step towards Maura. "Hey!" Maura stepped back as Jane stopped him with a firm hand on his chest, giving him a slight shove. "It's time for you to leave."

He sneered at Jane and his eyes flashed with anger. For once, Jane was grateful for her height, just so she could stare him down. "Now," she growled with a dangerous finality.

One long, hard stare into her unblinking eyes was enough to send Ian retreating to the doorway, but not without having the last word. "You can forget about seeing the kids this weekend."

"You can't do that, Ian."

Having the upper hand for once, he smirked. "We'll see." Ian slammed the door behind him and they were submerged in silence.

Maura was still staring at the door when Jane finally spoke to her.

"Ms. Isles, I'm really sorry about that," she shook her head. "He just… kinda gives me the creeps."

Maura let out a heavy sigh as she walked over to her desk and leaned her hip against it. She placed her hand on her chest and took deep breathes.

"No, Jane it's okay… Thank you. He… he has a temper."

After Jane stuffed her hands into her pockets and nodded, Maura began to gather her things to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Are you gonna be okay?"

Before she walked out of the door Maura turned to face her assistant. She sounded pained as she admitted, "Probably not."

This broke Jane's heart. She gently caught her wrist. "Wait. Let me at least buy you dinner. I mean, you've had a rough week and everything."

A brief silence passed before Maura sighed again, gently tugged her arm away and walked out of the room without another word.

Jane watched her leave, restraining herself from going after her. Realizing she was alone in her boss's office for the first time ever, she looked around the dark room and reflected on what had just happened these past few minutes. She went from coming out to her boss to having a pissing contest with her boss's ex-husband… and her big mouth ruined everything once again. She just couldn't shake the odd feeling that the guy gave her. He just seemed so manipulative and it sent a disturbing shiver down her spine.

Jane went and plopped back down on the couch with a heavy sigh escaping her. She leaned forward and ran a restless hand through her hair, contemplating going home. Her sketchpad stared back at her, almost as if that happy little moment she and Maura had shared earlier had been paused or frozen in time. She shifted her gaze to the paperwork on the table and decided her time would be better spent on finishing up the budgets. At least then, Maura would have one less thing to worry about.

* * *

The next two days were incredibly slow. Maura was relatively quieter than she usually was and her assistant began to worry. She worried that all this time spent together, the coffee runs, the pep talks, the little personal conversations were all ruined by a man who seemed to think he was far more intimidating than he was. She had tried numerous times to make Maura laugh, but she just seemed too somber.

Even though he had full custody, Ian would let Maura have the children over on some weekends when he other 'pressing' matters to attend to, but now he would most likely not allow it just to spite her. And she always looked forward to these meetings, always being at least forty-five minute early every other Saturday morning. She had gotten to spend a few days with Alice, because of the suspension, but she deeply missed her son.

Jacob was always excited to see her. He would burst out of his father's car and runs to his mother's car, beating on the window before she can even get out of the door. They talked on the phone every night and sometimes during the day and he told her about all of his adventures that he had at school and how his art teacher said that his watercolors were the best in the class. He talked on completely unaware that his mother would pull the phone away every few seconds so he wouldn't hear her sniffle. Unaware that she had difficulty strangling the whimper at the back of her throat and ceasing the silent tears.

As Friday evening wore on, Jane decided to give it her last shot at making this woman feel better. She walked to her office slowly opening the door and silently closing it. She wordlessly walked to the desk and sat down.

"What is it, Jane?" Maura continued to draw with her straight edge without looking up.

"What's… going on?" she shrugged.

Maura stopped in the middle of the line and looked up with a strange look in her eyes.

"What's going on? You decided to barge in here and interrupt me in the middle a very important blue print to ask me… _What's going on?_"

The assistant was taken aback as she filtered Maura's words. It had been a while since Maura had spoken to her in that tone. She closed her mouth cleared her throat, not really sure what to say, and sat up straighter in the seat, tugging at the collar of her shirt.

"Sorry, that's not what I-"

"-what you meant to say? Yes, I know. That seems to be a recurring trait of yours. Perhaps, Ms. Rizzoli, if you took the time to actually think before you speak, like I'm sure they would have taught you in College, I wouldn't have to constantly jump into your unintelligible caravan of random thoughts."

Maura's face was completely flushed. She looked almost as angry as she had when Ian had shown up that evening. The only difference now was that this time she hadn't raised her voice. However, the venom was there.

Jane had no idea what to say. As they both sat there, she tried to convince herself that her boss was going through a rough time and just lashing out at her out of convenience, but as her boss's demeanor didn't change and she seemed to be getting even more irritated, her words finally took root. Jane silently got up from the chair and walked to the door. She couldn't say she was surprised when Maura didn't call after her but she decided to have the last word.

Stopping at the door and glancing over her shoulder she said, "Have a good night, Ma'am." It ended up only a whisper.

When the door finally closed, a ton of guilt washed over Maura and she slammed her pencil down. She really hadn't meant to speak so vehemently at Jane. She actually didn't know what had come over her. The blue print interruption wasn't even the problem. She really wasn't even concentrating on it as the calculations seemed to flow from her hands with trained monotony. The architect really had been thinking about past events and the look in her ex-husband's eyes as he told her she wouldn't be able to see her children. Maura glanced at the clock and sighed.

She started gathering her things and mumbled, "I should really leave before I mess anything else up." Maura fully expected to walk out of her office into a hall of darkness, but a flash of light caused her to look up. Jane sat in her desk with her iPad in front of her and her desk light illuminating the dark space. Gulping, she walked over to her assistant's desk.

"I thought you were leaving."

"Answering a few emails," Jane grunted still looking down at her boss's e-mail account.

"... I suppose I can wait a few minutes then."

"Why would you do that?" Jane mumbled, finally looking up.

"Oh. Well, I just thought that you would… you know… walk me to my car."

Jane had started walking Maura to her car on late nights and it became routine for them.

"Walk you to your car? I dunno, hey. Let me think… I mean, I didn't learn how to do it in college or anything so maybe I'm not qualified to do that." She watched as her boss shifted uncomfortably in her Jimmy Choos and looked anywhere but at her.

"I shouldn't have said that. I wasn't angry at you, it's just... I apologize."

Jane picked at her nails. She looked down and was about to say that she forgave her and not to worry about it, but the woman pressed on.

"And I know you didn't deserve that. It's just my life is…and these past few weeks-" Her hand shot up to her mouth and the quick movement caused Jane to snap her eyes back up to her boss.

She watched as she stood frozen with her eyes screwed shut. She started to ask her if she was okay, but a sudden devastating sob, silenced her. Then another and another before the tears began to flow. Maura grasped her stomach with her other hand, trying to quiet herself. She squeezed tight, begging her body to calm down when she felt a rush of air and then strong hands tugging her hands away from her midsection and her face.

Jane pulled Maura arms down away from herself. She let them go only for a second while she pulled the smaller woman into her arms. Maura sinking into her made Jane pull her tighter.

"N-No… I can't… I-" Maura tried to push away from the brunette. The sorrow that she had forced herself to contain for so long was now mixing with confusion and shame. She didn't cry in front of _anyone, _let alone someone she worked with. Maura continued to push away from her to no avail. Jane brought one hand up to hold behind her head forcing Maura's face into her shoulder and the other hand wrapped around the woman's waist.

"Don't, Jane. I shouldn't be…we-"

"Hey, shh… You're allowed to cry. It's okay, Maura, you're okay."

When Maura heard her assistant utter her name all hell seemed to break loose. Her knees buckled, but she could immediately feel Jane's arms holding her up.

Jane's heart broke as her boss let out a gut wrenching sob and clenched her arms tighter when she lost her balance. She wondered how this could happen. How could someone break down such an amazing woman and reduce her to this clingy weeping mess? She pulled her tighter and began whispering in her ear.

"You're okay. I'm here, Maura… It's gonna be okay." The woman seemed to be settling down after a while and Jane could tell that her body was drained. "I know everything seems like a complete shit storm right now but… your kids know how much you love them. So, everything will work out. Okay?"

Maura let out a burst of air that created goose bumps across Jane's skin. Her boss's lips lightly brushed over her neck as she snuggled closer to her and tugged harder on her assistant's blazer. She tensed for a second before pulling the smaller woman away and attempting to clean the tear stained face. Her boss refused to meet her eye as she calmed her breathing pattern.

"Sorry."

"Look at me." Hesitantly her boss's eyes met hers and she could see the slight embarrassment. She gave her a tight lipped smile and gently squeezed her shoulders. "You got me anytime you need someone to cry on or…yell at," she joked, breathing easier when her boss let out a shuddered chuckle. "But seriously. I'm here."

Maura closed her eyes and let her words wash over her. She had waited so long for someone to say that. She didn't have any friends that weren't only there, because of her last name and her children would never be an option for sharing her burden. Collin was her brother, but he couldn't even keep a promise in being with her on one of the most intense days of her life. But Jane said she would. And she always had.

"Thank you."

Jane gave her shoulders one more squeeze before she gathered her things and began to lead the woman out of the building with a tender hand on the small of her back. When they reached the parking garage, she bypassed her car and walked toward the Benz.

Taking her boss's keys out of her hands, she unlocked the car and opened the driver's side door. Maura got into the car, receiving her keys from her assistant, but looked up when the brunette didn't close the door.

"Are you sure you want to go home? I know this really good place a couple of blocks away if you want to…" She let her sentence trail off hoping Maura would fill in the blanks herself. Even thinking it made her nervous. Maura considered her offer for a second before speaking.

"I would be horrible company."

"Oh, no. You're not horrible… not all of the time… outside of work." They both laughed and Maura playfully swatted her assistance's hand that was still on the door. "But really, you haven't been eating much lately."

"Thank you, but I think I'm just gonna go home and take a bath."

Jane nodded and took a step away from the door trying to not concentrate too hard on her boss taking a bath. "Okay. Guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Actually Jane, why don't you take the weekend off? I think I'm just going to work from home."

In the two and a half months that Jane had been Maura's assistant, they had only taken off every other weekend and even then Maura would ask Jane to go to the office to finish reports without her or clean up sketches.

"Are you sure you're okay? You don't have a fever or anything? You're not dying are you?" Jane teasingly reached into the car and placed the back of her hand on the other woman's forehead. Maura laughed, but didn't pull away from her and felt a slight dissatisfaction when Jane removed her hand.

"No, I'm fine. Although, I'm sure it wouldn't be too disappointing if I wasn't." The smile immediately dropped from Jane's face and her brown eyes pierced into hazel.

"Why would you say something like that?" Maura only shrugged and sat back a little noticing Jane's sudden serious manner.

"I don't know… I was only kidding."

The tall woman gave her an incredulous look and sighed. She squatted down to Maura's sitting form and placed one of her hands on the woman's knee. "You don't think people would miss you if you were gone? Jesus, Maura. Those kids absolutely adore you. You are a seriously talented architect and no one will ever be able to even touch your excellence and accomplishments in the field. You're so smart. People care… I mean… I know I do."

Maura swallowed the lump in her throat and was able to conquer the rising tears she felt coming. She hadn't expected Jane to say that and it took her a little by surprise. Even though she truly hadn't meant what she said, her assistant's words still touched her.

"I really was only kidding," Maura whispered.

Jane smiled dutifully and stood, placing her hand once again on the door prepared to close it. "Maybe you do need to take the weekend to decompress. Your sense of humor is getting a little too dark there, Isles. Enjoy your bath."

Without another word she closed the door and turned to walk to her car. She wasn't sure if Maura was truly only kidding, but she didn't want to think about where she would be if Maura Isles hadn't taken her on as an assistant.

* * *

"Jo, slow the hell down!" Jane looked a couple of feet in front of her as her dog strained against her leash. Jo Friday went from one side of the side walk to the other sniffing out for the perfect place.

"Jane, you gotta let the leash out a little. You're gonna choke her."

"Oh, would you calm down, Tommy. I'm not choking her." Her brother reached for the leash and tried to wrench it from her hand. "What are you doing? I can handle it. It's not like she's a German Sheppard."

Her brother finally wrestled the control away and let the leash run out a few more feet before stopping it. "Look, you hired me to walk your dog."

"Yeah, when I can't. I told you I'm off this weekend. I don't know _why _you insist on coming along."

"Because you can be kinda hostile. Plus Jo knows me."

"Oh, really. She's MY dog."

"Yeah, but we have a special bond, you know."

She watched as Jo happily chased a bee and laughed when the bee started to chase Jo and she growled at it. "I can see that, Cesar Millan."

Before Tommy could retort their attention was brought back by a small screeching laugh. A little boy was laying on the ground, feet in the air as Jo licked all over his face. The boy laughed loudly and started playing with Jo.

Jane walked up to the two of them and squatted down to pet Jo."Hey, there. Sorry about her. She gets really excited around kids."

"No, she's AWESOME!"

Jane smiled and looked around the park. She couldn't see any adults that seemed to be looking for anyone and it worried her a little. She pulled Jo off of the boy who sat up and started petting the dog again.

"What's your name kid?" Tommy asked lowering himself to be level with his sister.

"Jacob!" The boy said grinning through a missing tooth.

"Hey, Jacob. I'm Jane."

"Really?! Our names have the same first letter!"

"Yeah, cool! Where are your parents?"

The boy glanced around and simply shrugged his shoulders before turning his attention back to the dog jumping up and down.

"Okay, well when was the last time you…" Before Jane could continue her question she heard a woman shouting from behind her.

"Jacob!" Jane barely turned around before the woman was in front of them falling to her knees and pulling the boy into her. He grimaced and tried to pull out of her arms. "This is my mom."

Tommy smiled at the woman's smothering, but became confused as he looked over to his sister who was only staring with her eyebrows raised. The women finally sat back holding her son stiffly by his shoulders. "Jacob Louis Faulkner! What have I told you about disappearing like that? You can't do that. If you go wandering off like that and Mommy can't find you, do you know how -"

Then a teenage girl walked up beside them and locked eyes with Jane. They recognized each other and Alice grinned down at her. "Hi, Jane!"

The boy's mother stopped mid-rant and finally looked over at her. Jane smiled and gave an awkward wave. _Why didn't you say hi? She's right there._

Maura completely released her son and stood up as her assistant did the same. Her shocked face turned into a full blow grin. "Jane. What are you doing here?"

"Well…" Jane looked from Jo Friday to the surrounding dogs at the dog park and then back to Maura, who seemed to blush a little from asking such an obvious question.

"Of course. You have a dog."

"Yeah, I don't _actually _have a sleeping bag under my desk."

Maura rolled her eyes as they shared a light chuckle.

"By the way, how did that happen?"

"Well, let's just say Alice decided to take her brother to the park, and I happened to… _bump_ into them."

"What a coincidence, right?" Jane asked as she looked between mother and daughter. Alice shook her head at the same time as Maura nodded.

"Of course," she smiled.

"See? I told you they missed you too," whispered Jane with a smirk.

They both grew silent, content to just smile and stare at each other. Tommy looked between the two women, but finally ended up blatantly staring at the blonde.

"I'm Tommy by the way. Jane's brother."

Maura seemed to snap out of her haze and turned to the man who had his hand stuck out for a hand shake and donned a smile that mimicked Jane's. "Oh, of course. It's nice to meet you, I'm Maura Isles." She shook his hand a tried not to notice how his hand lingered in hers a few moments beyond appropriate.

"So, Maur-… Mrs.-… Wh-what are you doing here? Where's your dog?" The assistant had no idea what to call her boss at a dog park. She knew she was her boss, but when she had used her first name last night, it seemed so natural.

"We don't have a dog. Dad's allergic." The boy Jacob spoke tiring of petting Jo.

"Yes, we were just walking around the park. And we were about to grab something to eat, when someone decided to practice his disappearing act."

Jacob looked away avoiding his mother's glare.

"This is your dog?" asked Alice.

"Yeah, Jo Friday."

"I never pegged you for a _small_ dog person." Alice said leaning down to pet Jo's head.

"Yeah, well I found her on the side of the street one day and we just kind of stuck together."

"Oh, well isn't that sweet." Jane smiled at her boss ready for another grinning staring match when Jacob interrupted.

"Mom, I'm hungry."

"Sorry, sweetheart… okay, we're going to go. I guess I'll see you at work?"

Tommy stepped up closer to Maura handing Jo's leash to Jane. "Where are you guys headed?"

Jane then realised that Tommy was talking to Maura in that I'm-trying-to-be-charming voice he used on girls all the time. Then Jane realised it usually never worked.

"There's this place right up the road… The Dirty Robber? I've never eaten there, but I've heard that their food is naturally sourced so I thought we would give it a try." She smiled missing her son's face scrunch up in disgust at the mention of anything remotely healthy.

"Yeah, I know that place. Me and Jane eat there all the time. Although, I'm not sure why you want to eat something so healthy. You're like super-skinny." The salacious look he gave her made Alice quirk a brow and then glance at Jane.

Jane had to physically clasp her hands together in an attempt to stop the face palming that almost happened. Her brother was always the worst at flirting. He was flirting with a woman in front of her kids for crying out loud. She glanced over to him giving the don't-flirt-with-my-boss look. When he only smirked at her she tried a different tactic with the she's-out-of-your-league look.

"Thank you? It's mostly for the well-being of my children."

"I dig that. Mind if I tag along? Those burgers are so good."

Jane couldn't believe it. She had definitely succeeded in telepathically telling him to stop whatever he was thinking and he was ignoring her.

"Are you kidding me, Tommy? No!"

Everyone's eyes snapped to her including a specific set of confused hazel.

"Why not?"

"Because… you have that… that thing."

"What thing?"

She had to think quick and glancing down at her watch she sighed in relief. "You have to take Jo to her grooming."

"What happened to _I can handle it_?"

Jane shrugged and placed the leash in her brother's hand. "Oh, but you're the dog whisperer, remember? You two have a _special connection_. And last I checked, The Robber didn't allow pets."

Tommy rolled his eyes and reluctantly grasped and pulled Jo away giving the Isles family a quick wave.

"Your brother seems nice," said Maura once he was gone.

"Yeah, he _seems_… a lot of things." Jane turned to walk away, glad that she succeeded in getting her brother away from her boss. "It was cool seeing you guys. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait, Jane! Aren't you gonna come eat with us?" asked Alice.

Both adults were surprised by the request, but more so who the request was from. Jane contemplated. "I dunno. I don't feel like intruding on family time."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Coy is not a good look on you. Just come."

Jane laughed out loud. "What? Miss me already?"

Ali quirked an eyebrow. "No, you just look hungry," she quipped.

"You always were a big ball of sunshine, huh. Nice shoes, by the way." Jane meant it as a joke because of the outrageous color but Alice took it in stride.

"I know, right? I wish I could say the same to you," she countered, feigning remorse.

"Ouch. I'll take that as an insult."

"As you should." Alice felt triumphant until Jane went on.

"Still a vegetarian?"

When Ali opened her mouth but stayed silent, Jane knew she'd won.

"Whatever. Are you hungry or not?"

Jane quickly quieted down her laughter as she patted her stomach. She really was hungry, but wondered if it would be over stepping. She and Maura _had _gotten closer after last night and Jane thought that if her boss thought it was unprofessional she would have rebuffed Alice's invitation, but instead Maura just watched their little interaction with surprised adoration.

"Yeah… sure, sounds good."

* * *

"Mom, can I pleeeaaase have French fries?"

"Remember when you asked me that question five minutes ago?"

"Yes?"

"Good, and what was my answer?"

"No?"

"Well, there you have it."

Jane tried to hide her smirk. They all sat in a booth near the middle of the restaurant. Alice sat next Jane and Maura sat next to her ten year old son on the opposite side. They had all ordered and Jane wasn't surprised to see two salads in front of the two Isles women, although Ali didn't look too happy about hers. Jane nursed her burger and the boy had begged and pleaded for chicken strips.

"But Mom-"

"Jacob."

The boy sighed and sat back in his seat disappointed.

"Hey, buddy," The boy turned his big sad, hazel eyes up to look at Jane. He looked like his mother just as much as Alice did, but he had his father's dark brown hair. "I have an idea. If it's okay with your mom, you can have a few of my fries. That way you won't be completely clogging your arteries."

The boy perked up in his seat and turned to his mother for approval so fast she was sure he would break his neck. "Oh, mom! Please!"

Maura glanced over the table at Jane who looked back at her apologetically. _Maybe I shouldn't have offered. _"Well, if it's okay with Jane."

The boy perked up and an instantly reached across the table into Jane's plate.

"Jacob, what do you say?"

"Thanks, Jane."

"No. It's Ms. Rizzoli."

Jane chuckled and waved her boss off. "It's fine, Ms. Isles. He can call me Jane."

The architect couldn't believe what she was about to say, but it seemed fitting. "Only if you call me Maura."

The assistant's eyebrows shot up to the top of her forehead. "Really?"

"Yes. When we're outside of work anyway."

Jane smirked and leaned forward placing her arms on the table. She looked into her boss's eyes and her voice dropped a few octaves as she said, "And will we be spending a lot of time together… outside of work?"

The woman noticed an instant flush that she was sure would be visible if it weren't for her shirt. She fiddled with her hands in her lap and shifted a little uncomfortably in her seat. Her entire body went hot and she sputtered trying to make a coherent sentence.

"We… work in… design is-"

Jane traded glances with Alice, who narrowed her eyes at her. Jane quickly averted her eyes, embarrassed at being caught flirting with her boss in front of her boss's kids. She was officially worse than Tommy.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Okay so a few things...1) This took a while because Spring Break was like one giant hangover. Also, I know it's comparatively short but it's more of a bridge for the next few. 2) I'm hoping this makes up for the complete and utter fuckery that occurred in tonight's season finale. 3) So no one is confused I inserted in the last chapter the fact that Maura has the kids this weekend is because Alice told Ian she was taking her brother to the park where their mother "conveniently" was. Anyway, I hope this makes you feel better after that...episode.**

* * *

_"S-Sorry. I was…joking." She quickly grabbed her water and took two large gulps. Jane squeezed the glass between her fingers before she finally put it down and awkwardly coughed with her eyes down cast._

_"Of course." She finally looked up at Maura who was pushing the lettuce around on her plate._

_"So, you got the kids today, that…that's great."_

_"Dad's not all that smart sometimes so…" Alice said as she glared at Jane over her glass. Jane only nodded her head and turned to Jacob who was obliviously scarfing down his fries. _

_"Yeah, well he'd have to be to-" _leave your mother. _In hindsight of her current situation Jane thought better than to finish the sentence._ _She had only meant to tease her boss with what she said, but the way it came out…even she knew was overkill for light teasing. _

_"So…Jacob, do you play any sports?" The boy excitedly nodded his head dipping his last fry in ketchup. _

_"Yup! I love baseball!"_

_"Oh, cool. Me and my brother's used to play all the time. We still have little games…when we have time off." She glanced back to Maura to gauge her response but the woman seemed lost in heavy thought as she peered down at her plate. _

_"Really! Maybe I could play with you guys sometimes. My coach says I need to work on my curve ball. You guys could teach me how to do that, right?"_

_"Well-"_

_"Jake, really? That's why you have a father. Ask him, instead." Jane looked to the girl next to her who was looking back at her with a knowing look in her eyes. She sighed and gave a tight lipped smile to Jacob. She decided to ignore Alice; thinking that the last thing she needed was an angry Alice Isles on her back._

Jane sighed heavily and shook her head sitting back in her desk chair. Her head was pounding, because of the work load they had that week and the reoccurring memory of that lunch. It had been nearly a week since hear lapse in judgment had happened and she couldn't get the conversation and it's awkwardness out of her mind. Ever since that lunch, she noticed that Maura had become reserved around her. Not in a way that seemed as if she was mad at her or sad for some other reason; she just seemed to always be deep in thought.

One day Jane had walked into the office after having paged Maura twice without her answering. She had looked through the small area of glass wall to see that the other woman was sat staring at her back wall. She had called out Maura's name and when she still didn't answer she walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. The woman nearly jumped out of her skin and pushed away Jane's concern with a half-assed excuse of being stressed out.

Now Jane sat at her desk wondering if Maura was still stuck on the memory like she was. She chanced a glance into her office to see the woman with one hand holding her head and the other holding several documents. She looked distressed so Jane stood from her desk and walked into the office.

"Ms. Isles is…everything alright?" Maura quickly glanced up and swiped away a few tears that had stained her cheek. Jane walked further into the office to stand in front of the desk and gazed down at her.

"Yes, Jane everything is fine. Thank you." Not wanting to pry she straightened her face and looked out the window at the darkening sky. She was about to turn and walk away when Maura spoke up again. "Actually no, I'm not. I just…I just received my official divorce papers for me to sign."

She slapped the papers down on the desk and buried her head in her hands. Jane silently swayed back and forth not knowing exactly what to say. They had only ever mentioned the divorce a hand full of times and all seemed to come back and bite her in the ass. Remembering that she did say that she would be there if she needed her, Jane sat down slowly in the chair.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Maura shook her head, still buried in her hands. "Do you want to talk about it?" She didn't move for a second; then she lifted her head to address her assistant.

"Yes. I would." They both sat uncomfortably for a long moment. Jane wasn't sure if she should be the one to open up this conversation in this instant. She really didn't know how Maura was feeling or how she was reacting to the news and didn't want to say the wrong thing to upset the woman. Maura on the other hand was taken the silence in stride, trying to swallow the lump in her throat before continuing.

"Jane, would you care to join me for a drink?" the brunette's eyebrows shout up at the request. Jane wasn't positive what it meant, but she decided to just go with the flow. "It's just if I'm going to talk about this, I'm going to need a little…encouragement."

"Sure. How about the Robber?" Maura smiled at her as she stood up and collected her things.

"I'll meet you there."

* * *

The envelope that held the divorce papers sat between them on the table. Maura had yet to utter a word other than to order herself wine and she didn't seem to want to say anything as she sat with her hands together in her lap, lost in thought.

"So…do you wanna talk about why you're getting divorced or…?" In the fifteen minutes that they had been sitting there Jane had been thinking of things to talk about that weren't too sad or pertained to work. What she had thought up was much more eloquent than what had come out of her mouth.

"I…well I'm sure you know by now that he had multiple affairs. But we also had years of back and forth between us. Constant arguing and manipulation…it was too much. When I received these random photos of him with other women in various acts I finally confronted him about it."

Jane slowly nodded her head and tried to keep her face from showing the complete and sheer shock that she was feeling. "Do you know who sent them?"

"I have my suspicions. My mother never liked him. She didn't even want us to get married in the first place and she even made me keep my maiden name."

"She _made _you?"

"Well, when we got married I was only twenty-one and still in college, but…that's another story. Anyway, she said that she would cut me off financially if I didn't keep my name." Jane frowned at that. She wondered why Maura had gotten married so young and then wondered how her mother could threaten to do something like that. _Aren't weddings supposed to be joyous?_

"I suspect that mother had an inkling about the affairs and hired a PI to follow Ian around. He actually tried to deny it until I showed him the pictures."

"What did he say when he realized you had proof." Maura took a refreshing breath and looked upwards as if trying to remember exactly what was said that day.

"He said…that it was partially my fault as much as it was he's."

"Wow, that's-"

"I mean I don't get it. I know I work a substantial amount but, I was _right there_. Why did he need to look elsewhere for…that? I was right there and he never even touch-" She quickly glanced down and bit her lip to compose herself. "Plus, someone had to support his kids and his healthy spending habits."

"Doesn't he have a job?" Maura scoffed and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Jane followed the movement of her delicate hand with her eyes until it disappeared under the table again.

"He _did._ Ian was a doctor and he worked a lot with doctors without borders in Africa."

"What happened?"

"He got into a little…_trouble_ and we both decided it would be better for everyone if just retired early. Now he does volunteer work at a med clinic a couple of days a week." Jane digested the information and decided to press her luck a little.

"Can I ask you something? If you don't want to answer, it's totally fine."

"Of course."

"Okay, well I get that he works less than you do and all of that, but knowing about the affairs and his whole career situation, I can't understand why _any_ judge in his right mind would grant him custody of the kids."

"Jane, before you started working for me, I worked a hell of a lot more than I do now. There were a lot of soccer games and band performances that I missed because of it."

"Yeah, I get that. It can be hard on a kid. But there has to be something else. I mean you said yourself that you cut down. So what is it?" Maura brought her hands to wrap around the base of her wine glass and stared down into the dark liquid.

"When we first discussed the custody trial, I practically begged Ian not to bring it up, and he agreed. But I guess his lawyer convinced him to write it in his final statement…" The brunette tilted her head waiting for the other woman to continue. She took a hefty gulp of her wine, finishing it. They sat quietly until a waiter refilled Maura's glass and she cleared her throat.

"About four years ago, when Jacob was six…we we're in an accident. Ian had called me to tell me that he wouldn't be able to pick up the kids, because he had to work late…with _Victoria_…

I was already having a horrible day and had forgotten a sketch at home that I needed that evening for a meeting. I rushed to the school to pick them up and I was going to swing by the house to grab the sketch before going back to work." She took another large swig of her drink downing half of it.

"I was scrambling when I picked them up and I was in such a hurry that when…when I reached to buckle Jacob in…" Jane watched as the woman seemed to lose her breath and she reached across the table to grasp a slightly shaky hand. Jane's breath hitched when Maura griped her hand in a vise hold.

"I always check it, even if I do hear the buckle click, but I was in such a rush that…and I was driving so fast and it was raining really hard. I didn't even see the car coming…I was driving to my home one second and the next thing I knew, the car was spinning and I c-couldn't get control of the wheel."

She was crying now. Tears streamed down both cheeks and this time she made no effort to wipe them away. She only gripped her glass tighter in her left hand as she brought it up to her lips and completely finished her second glass. Jane could only look on in deep concern and understanding as she still held the woman's hand.

"Maura…it was an accident."

"I didn't c-check the damn seat belt and I should have! If I hadn't been rushing to work and worried about missing some damn m-meeting more than my own child's safety maybe…maybe I-" Her voice was rising and people were beginning to stare. Trying to dissipate some of the attention from their booth, Jane stood and slid into the booth next to Maura and wrapped her up in her arms.

"The other c-car hit us on Jacob's side and the impact was so hard…and he's seat belt wasn't set properly and it came a loose and he…he-"

"Shhh, Maura. It's okay." Maura pushed away from Jane to look at her. Though the tears had continued to fall, her voice was reduced to a soft whisper.

"No it's not okay…he was in the hospital for nearly two weeks with two broken ribs, a broken arm and a concussion," Jane closed her eyes against her words and clenched her jaw. _Damn._

"It's not okay, because none of that would have happened if I wasn't rushing to work in the rain and if I had checked to see if my son was safe…It's part of the reason Alice stopped talking to me for so long."

Jane wanted to say something comforting. Something that would make this situation better, but she could tell by the tone of the other woman's voice that she had completely accepted it as the screwed up situation it was and nothing would change her mind so she settled for erasing the woman's tears with her thumbs.

"And it's also not okay for me to keep blubbering all over my assistant like this," She said trying to lighten the mood. Jane smiled and sat back to just stare at the woman in front of her. Even puffy eyed, red cheeked, slightly buzzed Maura Isles was absolutely breathtaking.

"I told you…I'm here."

"I know. But really, I'm done with all of this self-pity. I just need to grow a few." Jane chuckled finally breathing freely and getting up to sit back on the other side.

"Maura, it's actually grow a _pair_."

Hazel eyes grew wide and filled with mirth. "Close enough. In fact…" She reached over to the envelope in the middle of the table and opened it. She rummage around in her purse, before her assistant pulled a pen from her jacket pocket. Maura smiled and gratefully took it.

"Even assisting when you're not on duty."

Jane shrugged her shoulders and smirked. "I'm always here to assist." Maura smiled as she took a deep breath and put the pen to paper. She didn't hesitate once as she swiftly signed her name on several lines before folding the papers and putting them back into the envelope. She glanced back up at Jane with a full grin on her face.

"Whoo! There it goes."

"There it goes," Jane declared, smiling at the beautiful twinkle in the other woman's eyes. Maura glanced around for a while before her gaze landed back on the brunette across from her.

"What now?"

"Now…" Jane said downing her beer and raising her hand for another as well as a refill for Maura, "we drink."

* * *

Maura felt lighter. She walked around with a slight bounce in her step. The following week, was a new custody trial and despite Ian's fight, the judge had agreed with her. Though she didn't get _complete _custody, she did get joint. They had received a different judge this time who had applauded Maura's efforts in cutting back her work hours as well as being the sole financially stability of the family and scrutinized Ian a little more than the last judge did. He even looked at the event of Ian not answering the phone when Alice got into trouble at school.

Her and Jane had went out for a celebratory lunch that following day and she felt relieved in knowing she had been redeemed as a parent after telling her assistant about the car accident. The kids started staying over three nights a week, including every other weekend and Jane could tell how much happier her boss seemed. Having her kids seemed to give her _more _energy and it seemed she wasn't the only one who noticed. Even some of her optimistic energy had rubbed off on her clients. The commissioners of the Parker project had even thrown in a few extra thousand bucks to help with anything in the budget.

After seeing her children off that morning, Maura came bustling into work and stopped at her assistant's desk. Grabbing her coffee she smiled down at Jane. "Good morning, Jane!"

Jane put her phone call on hold and glanced up at Maura. She failed to keep the contagious smile from forming and happily greeted her. "Well, good morning, sunshine. How are you?"

"I'm great! Guess what."

Now Jane definitely couldn't hide her smile at the woman who was virtually vibrating in front of her. She was a far cry from the strict, up-tight woman she had practically feared three months ago.

"What's that?"

"I assisted Jacob with his art project last night. He had to build a model of his dream playground, and he asked _me_ for help."

"That's really awesome, Maura."

"Isn't it? Well anyway, I have some even bigger news once you get off the phone. Just come into my office when you finish up." Jane only nodded. The woman strode into her office and she brought the phone back up to her ear.

"Hey, Ma. I'll have to call you back." She walked into the office and Maura wasn't even seated yet. She glanced up in surprise putting her purse away.

"That was fast."

"It was just my Ma." Maura nodded as she sat in her seat and pointed for Jane to take hers. "So what's up? What's so exciting?"

"Well…" she said lacing her hands on top of her desk, "How do you feel about Las Angeles?" Jane squinted her eyes as a smirk crossed her face.

"How do you _want _me to feel about LA?" Maura laughed and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Come on, Jane. I'm serious."

"I don't know. I've never been so…"

"Well, Jane Rizzoli. Pack your bags." Jane tried to comprehend what was going on. She was going to LA? But why? She wondered if Maura had decided to start her own company and wanted her to follow her there. Then she wondered, hopefully, if she was being sent on vacation. _No, that can't be right_.

"What…for?"

"There is a four day conference that I usually attend for architects. This year they are focusing on those who study Victorian styled structure. It's usually held in Michigan, but they changed the location this year to attain more attraction."

"Oh…I-"

"There will be quite a few lectures including various architects. We don't have to go to all of them, but I would like to go to most. Oh! And there is apparently a city tour of the historic structures of the city as well as…what's wrong?" Jane had been staring at her with a crazed look on her face.

"Huh? Oh, nothing just taking it in."

"You can't second guess this job now, Ms. Rizzoli. You're already knuckle deep in my private stuff." Maura only realized that her half-baked joke failed when she noticed Jane's eyes go wide.

"I-I meant my life. My private _life._ Sorry, I-"

"No. It's fine." Jane stood suddenly nearly tripping over her feet to get to the door. Passing by Maura's little word faux pas, she realized that she would be spending an entire week with Maura. _Are we sleeping in the same room?_

"Ms. Isles, I think I'm just gonna go set up…you know the hotel stuff-"

"Oh, no don't worry about that. I had J…James, no…Jason…my last assistant set it up for all of us already." Maura simply shrugged her shoulders at forgetting her last assistant's name.

"All of us?"

"Yes. The children are coming with us. We leave Friday night." Jane reached up behind her and grabbed the handle on the door to steady herself. She felt a little dizzy realizing that she would be spending an entire week not only with Maura, but her kids as well. This made her nervous. Especially the fact that she had not seen or spoken to Alice since the awkward flirting incident. _I can barely handle one Isles._

"Okay. Sure. I'm just gonna…"

"Jane, are you okay?"

"What? Yeah. If you need anything…" Jane walked out the door leaving a bewildered Maura behind. She slumped in her seat and tried to soothe the oncoming migraine. She wondered how in the hell she was going to endure an entire week of Isles family. Sighing she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hey, Ma. Listen, I'm not gonna make it to Sunday dinner."

* * *

**A/N: Also, you guys make me so happy with your reviews! Let me know what you think:)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: And here we go...enjoy!**

* * *

_How can one woman have this many damn bags?_

Jane fumbled down the aisle in first class, trying not to knock anyone unconscious with what seemed like an entire life's worth of carry-ons. She wondered how she had gotten through the airport with her own small suitcase as well as Maura's three bags haphazardly slung across her limbs. Maura had insisted on carrying her own bags, but Jane quickly shot it down, claiming that it was her job. _Me and my big mouth._

"Okay, so it looks like we're right here," Jane announced before she began stowing their carry-ons into the overhead compartments. She then had a look around at the comfortable chairs that were spaciously separated and all the small tables in the area.

"Since when do they have actual tables on an airplane?"

"Since we flew first class. Duh," chimed Alice from behind her in a tone that couldn't be misinterpreted as playful in any way.

If Jane didn't know better, she would think the child's default setting was to belittle Jane any chance she got. They had exchanged very few words that morning, and even those were immensely standoffish. When Jane picked up the Isles trio earlier, she had attempted to grab the teenager's suitcase to put it in the trunk of the car, just as she had done for everyone else, but only to have it snatched back with an annoyed scowl. Maura was too busy fussing over Jake to have witnessed the clipped interaction, but that pretty much set the tone for the day.

"Jane, have you never flown first class before?" inquired her employer as she fetched a pillow to place under her snoozing son's head.

"Really, Mom. Why would she? She's just an assistant," shrugged the girl as she retrieved her iPod and something to read.

Jane frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Alice Grace Faulkner. Just because you refused to wake up early enough for coffee does not permit you to be rude. Settle down."

Ali glanced at her mother before covertly rolling her eyes and dropping into her seat beside her brother.

Maura apologized to Jane on Alice's behalf as they got settled and buckled up in adjacent seats. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what's gotten into her lately."

"It's fine," Jane lied, "And to answer your question… no. I've never even been on an airplane before."

Maura paused, eyebrows raised. "Are you serious?"

Jane only nodded her head as she stared straight ahead.

"Well, how do you feel about flying?"

Jane finally looked at her flying companion, but before she could answer, the pilot's voice filtered through the cabin. She was secretly grateful for the interruption. The truth was, Jane hated the idea of flying. She was absolutely terrified of heights. Ever since she was younger and her brothers dared her to climb the tallest tree in their yard, only for her to fall from the top branch and break her arm. She never told anyone about her phobia though, having never expected she would ever have to fly anywhere.

The fact that the convention was in California was one of the things that freaked her out at first. Through Maura's excitement of it being in a different state all she could hear was,_"I'm going to make you ride a death tube, 40,000 feet in the air." _

Jane was brought out of her thoughts by a dinging noise and then the plane jerked forward as it proceeded down the runway. She squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her armrest as she tried to think happy thoughts while taking slow, deep breaths. In through her nose and out through her mouth.

"Jane, are you okay?" Maura noticed Jane's death grip on the armrest that was so tight her entire hand was white, except for the subtle scar. The brunette snapped her head over to the other woman with pursed lips and wide brown eyes.

"Huh? No… yeah, I'm good. Why?" Jane's voice was uncharacteristically shaky and pitchy.

"You just seem a little nervous." She shot a pointed glance down to the woman's hands on the arm rest.

"No… A little, maybe."

"Oh my goodness. Is Jane Rizzoli afraid of heights?"

Jane had the decency to look offended. "What! Of course I'm not a-fffuck!"

Jane's objection was cutoff when they hit an air pocket that caused the plane to drastically dip. She immediately threw her head back against the seat and screwed her eyes shut. Her right hand acted of its own will and darted over the armrest to grasp the hand next to it.

_Oh, my God. I'm gonna die. And I didn't even get to say goodbye to my family. Ma's gonna kill me... For dying. She warned me to be careful and now look at me. I'm dying. As good as dead. At least I'm in first class, I'll die with legroom._

"Hey."

_And my apartment is a complete mess. What if they go to collect my things for the funeral and they can't find anything in my cluttered closest. Damn it! Why don't I ever clean anything up? I'm going to Hell. Hoarder's hell. And what about Jo Friday?_

"Jane, can you hear me?"

_I feel light-headed. Is this what death is? Oh man, I'm gonna die alone. No soul mate. No kids. No one. I didn't even get to tell my boss how beautiful she is. Wait… Maura?_

"Jane!"

She bolted straight up and gasped for air; she hadn't even realized she wasn't breathing. Jane, feeling constrained, undid her seatbelt and bent forward to try to regulate her breathing again. _Deep breaths_, she told herself.

"Hey, it's over. Everything is fine." Maura tried to calm her assistant down by rubbing slow patterns on her back. Maura had only been teasing Jane about being afraid of heights. She wasn't expecting to provoke such a physical reaction from her usually cool, calm and collected companion.

Finally getting a hold of herself, the younger woman sat back in her seat and let out an awkward half sigh half laughing breath. "What in the hell just happened?"

"You kind of… freaked out," Maura said carefully.

"Wow, that's… embarrassing." Jane ran a shaky hand through her hair, looking sheepish as she faced Maura.

"Don't be embarrassed," Maura shook her head, "It's your first time. I should have asked how you felt about flying."

"And what, we would have driven from Boston to LA?" Jane asked skeptically.

"Well… perhaps we could have-"

Jane waved it off. "No, Maura, it's fine. I just need to not focus on the fact that I'm in a metal tube."

"So you suffer from pteromerhanophobia as well as claustrophobia."

Jane stopped mid-breath and turned to her boss with an incredulous stare. "Tearing me a what now?"

"Pteromerhanophobia. The fear of flying. Here, I have just the thing." She reached into her purse, pulling out a medicine bottle. She tapped out two small pills and held them out for Jane to take.

"Uh, no thanks. My dealer back home would get jealous," Jane joked without cracking a smile.

"Oh, come on. They're just sleeping pills."

"You expect me to take someone _else's_ prescribed medication?"

"What are you going to do, report me to your brother?"

Jane glanced down at the pills and then back to the woman offering them. "I just might."

"Jane, I swear…" Maura sighed and grabbed Jane's hand, placing the tablets on her palm.

Jane smirked at the aggressive gesture but then rolled her eyes and threw them back, dry swallowing the pills. "This better not have any side effects."

"Well… I hope so too."

An incredulous Jane snapped her head back at a smirking Maura. "You're kidding, right?"

"Relax," she said pushing back on Jane's shoulder so she could lean back. "They work fairly quickly, so you'll be asleep in a few minutes."

"I better be," grumbled Jane, hoping the next time she opened her eyes she had solid ground beneath her. Resting her feet on the table, she slowly let the tension in her body go and shut her eyes.

"Is this how you deal with that one?" Jane good-humoredly gestured in Alice's direction, who was reading a magazine, seemingly unbothered by the previous turbulence.

Maura smiled down at her lap with her eyes hidden from sight and said, "Something like that."

Halfway into slumber, Jane tried to figure out the hidden meaning behind Maura's words. She sounded sad and almost guilty. That along with thoughts on why Maura would need sleeping pills, if not for flying, were her last thoughts as she drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Ugh!" The sleeping woman was jolted instantly awake. By what, she wasn't sure. She was dreaming. A good dream, actually. _Maura was sitting across from her at some fancy restaurant and they were drinking wine. She was eating the best chocolate cake she had ever tasted and just as she reached her fork across the table for Maura to have a bite of her piece of cake_, something squished the air out of her lungs and her eyes popped open.

"What the hell?" Her arms instinctively wrapped around whatever it was that had decided to plop down on top of her. Blurry eyed, she breathed in the scent of vanilla… _Oh, God. _

"I am so sorry, Jane."

Her hazy vision finally cleared. She found herself clinging to the form of Maura Isles who was sitting in her lap with her back completely settled against Jane. Maura shifted attempting to get off of the other woman, but relented when she noticed her waist encircled in the woman's arms.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Seeing as she wasn't able to get up, Maura merely turned sideways in Jane's lap to look into her face. "I was walking from the bathroom when we hit a bit of turbulence and I… lost my balance."

"Oh. Okay." Jane fell back into her seat and closed her eyes. She let out a heavy sigh. Deciding to drift back into her dream, she let the medicine start to take over again; however, her eyes lazily opened when someone cleared her throat.

"I'm going to sit back in my seat now."

The brunette blankly stared at the woman still seated in her lap. "Sure, go ahead," Jane said shrugging her shoulder.

Maura glanced down to her lap with a nervous look at the woman's arms around her waist. "I would, but… your arms are…"

The medicine had Jane's brain still fogged up and she didn't even notice that she still had a tight grip on the smaller woman's waist. She jerked her hands back like she had touched fire and held them up in surrender.

"Sorry."

Maura looked at Jane for another moment before getting up and taking her own seat. The assistant didn't dare look over to the woman she could feel burning a hole in the side of her face with her stare. Instead she chanced a glance over to Jacob who was surprisingly still asleep. Her eyes locked with Alice who scowled at her with the coldest eyes the girl had yet to inflict.

_"That wasn't my fault." _Jane mouthed to the teenager who proceeded to roll her eyes and ignore her the rest of the flight.

Jane huffed and tried to drift back off to sleep again. She really needed to talk to Alice about this back and forth they'd been having. She sighed and thought that it would have to wait. _Back to that chocolate cake._

* * *

A few hours later they landed at LAX. Maura was surprised that both her assistant and her son had slept through the entirety of an almost six hour flight, including the rickety landing. As Ali got her things in order and other passengers began unboarding the plane, she walked over to wake her son.

Jacob grumbled something at her for a second, but then something seemed to click and he hopped up out of his chair to look out the window. He grinned and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "We're here!"

Maura kissed the top of his head and whispered, "We sure are, sweet boy." She gave him one more pat on the head before walking over to her slumbering assistant.

"Jane," she whispered, pressing on the woman's shoulder, but it seemed to do nothing. Maura gazed at the woman's currently peaceful disposition. She couldn't resist raising her hand to tuck a curly dark lock behind her ear. Strangely, that soft touch seemed to get Jane's attention, who grabbed Maura's wrist as she briefly tensed then she eased into consciousness.

When she opened her eyes she gave Maura a lazy smile with a certain look in her eye that she couldn't quite pin down. "Hey, Maura…"

The architect was slightly taken aback by her dreamy tone and even more dazzling smile. "Are you going to make a habit of grabbing me whenever you're startled?"

Jane chuckled and looked down at the delicate wrist. When her dream state began to wear off and she realized what she was doing, she jolted straight up in her seat, discarding the tender grip she had on the other woman.

"Damnit. My bad. I was… I thought... Never mind. Are we done? I mean, ready to go?"

Maura silently stepped back as her assistant sprang to her feet and started unloading the carry-ons.

As they walked through the airport, Maura allowed herself to wonder. _What was Jane dreaming about?_

* * *

"Sweet baby Jesus," exclaimed the tall brunette as she tried to keep her jaw off the plush, carpeted floor of the hotel suite. First class flight and now this? She hadn't been the one to book the room, so she didn't really have any idea what it would look like. The suite had its own elevator, for Pete's sake!

The living room was an open floor plan with an offset kitchen and a grand granite table in the middle of the room. There was a long hallway immediately to the right. Jane dropped all of the bags in the entryway and set off to explore the remarkable structure.

The first door to the right was a normal bedroom with two single beds and a bathroom. She was about to enter when Alice brushed past her and mumbled that it was hers and her brother's room. Jane ignored the hostility and continued to look around.

She discovered two more bedrooms, each with a spacious private bathroom. At the end of the tour she found herself in a room with glass walls and a Jacuzzi dead in the middle of the room.

"That will come in handy one of these days."

The brunette jumped a little and turned to face her boss who was leaning against the door frame.

"You know, I didn't even know a hotel room could have so many rooms _in_ it."

Maura laughed. "Yes, well that's why it's called a suite. Plus, I thought it would be better if we occupied the same space." Maura looked around the room and walked over to a panel on the wall. She examined it for a minute before she pressed a button and a curtain like silk slid down the glass walls blocking the outside view. "That could come in handy too."

Jane's throat visibly bobbed up and down as she swallowed dryly, eyeing Maura closely as she turned to her. She cleared her throat, asking, "And why would that come in handy?"

"Oh, well you know…" Maura shrugged (actually, more like shimmied) a shoulder as she searched her mind for the right words. The atmosphere felt thick and Jane wondered if she was just imagining the sexual tension in the air. She took a step toward the smaller woman and was going to take another when the door burst open.

"Cool! A pool!" Jacob ran to the jacuzzi and climbed into the empty tub. Jane let her eyes wander the floor before bringing them up to meet Maura's. The other woman immediately turned to her son with a fond smile.

"Sweetheart, that's not a pool. That's a jacuzzi."

"Oh. What's it for?" he looked genuinely confused.

"People use it to…" Maura finally looked up to Jane and then back to her son, "… relax."

"Oh, a _jacuzzi._ Cool. Hey, mom did you see the Ping-Pong table behind the kitchen?" Maura merely shook her head, having paid no mind to anything after dropping her bags off in her room, which was right across from Jane's, and going off in search of her assistant.

"Hey, Jane. Do you wanna play?"

"Sure, but maybe a little later, buddy."

"Yes." Maura walked over to the panel on the wall and pressed the button again, lifting the curtains once again. "Maybe later. We still have to unpack, young man."

The boy's shoulders sagged as he sighed dramatically and began to protest. "But Mom, we just got here."

"All I hear is how much you _don't _want ice cream after dinner."

The boy practically launched out of the tub and ran to his room. Jane smiled at how easy the kid was. And Maura was still standing at the door.

"Are you coming? You need to unpack as well."

"Oh great. You're _my _mom too now?"

Maura squinted her eyes in challenge. "That depends. Do _you _want ice cream after dinner?"

Jane played shocked for a second before mimicking the boy's eagerness and jogged out of the room. Maura laughed and followed her assistant down the hall.

When Jane was finished unpacking, her dress pants and button downs hanging in the closet and her toiletries in the bathroom, she walked across the hall and knocked softly onto Maura's bedroom door. When she heard the 'come in', she pushed her way inside and found the blonde woman sitting in the middle of the bed, cross-legged with her laptop and glasses. She had changed into slightly more causal, yet still designer, white jeans and a dark purple silk blouse.

"Hi, Jane. Can I help you?"

"I just want to double-check the schedule," she said as she further entered the room.

"Sure. And I'm sorry you got thrown into this, but I'm glad it's you and not the last assistant I had." Maura smiled, patting a spot on the bed for Jane to sit.

Jane quickly glanced towards the hallway, as if expecting Ali to be there with a venomous glare, but shook the thought out of her head and walked over. She sat down and lasted all of three seconds before shaking her head again and standing back up.

"Are you okay?" asked a confused Maura.

"Mhm. Yup. So, today there's nothing, right?"

"Correct. The events start tomorrow."

"Brunch at 10 a.m., right? Then, there's the afternoon TED lecture at 1 p.m. And another at 5 p.m. And… is that all for Sunday?" Jane had been steadily walking back and forth along the room. Ticking off the events in her head.

"Yes, then Monday-"

"Is the morning lecture with Michael Graves, and then his constituents afterwards. Then there's the Q&A… We definitely need to be there. Well, _you_ do. I guess I can get lunch then…"

Maura stifled a smirk as her assistant walked back and forth and her schedule reciting turned into mumbling to herself.

"…And then Tuesday, there's the architectural tour and of course more lectures, blah, blah, blah… and oh! The banquet that night and…" She stopped when her glance ran past Maura and saw her smiling up at her. "What? Did I miss something?'

"Nothing, it's just… your mumbling is…well, it's endearing. Very cute."

The brunette could instantly feel the heat rise from both embarrassment and excitement. Didn't Maura know she couldn't just call her cute so innocently? She leaned her back against the wall near the door. "Then our flight leaves at 6 p.m. on Wednesday."

Maura scooted to the edge of her bed and nodded her head. "Sounds good. Now, I don't know about you but I'm completely famished. And since we're all pretty jetlagged, room service is a good idea."

"Oh, well I kinda had another idea on the ride here, but if you want hotel food… I guess that's cool too." Jane smirked when curiosity lit the other woman's eyes right up.

"Wait, what idea?"

"I was thinking that maybe I'd cook for us instead. All of us."

"You? Cook? I mean, you cook?"

Jane feigned a slightly hurt look and placed her hand over her heart. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I cook. _Very _well actually."

Maura leaned back on her hands and crossed one leg over the other. She subconsciously bit her lip and Jane's stomach did a small flip. "And what would you cook, Ms. Rizzoli?"

"Easy. My Ma's lasagna."

"Lasagna?"

"Yeah, it's good. Trust me, I'm Italian. And I guess I could squeeze in a salad too since you're so into that sort of stuff." They both laughed.

"Okay, but we don't really have anything in the kitchen to cook."

"Leave that to me."

"Because you're Italian and you happen to travel with groceries in your suitcase?"

Jane's back pressed against the wall. "_No_… customs is a nightmare," she laughed, "but I'm sure there's a Walmart _somewhere _around here."

Maura was about to agree when her daughter stormed into her room without knocking and walked up to her mother. She failed to notice Jane, who was now partially hidden by the open door.

"Mom, can we please go to the store?"

"Did you forget to pack something?"

The girl paused for a second, not wanting to admit that she had indeed forgotten something at home. "My multivitamins."

Her mother grew relieved it wasn't serious and leaned forward. "Alice, you don't need them that badly."

"Yeah, I do. It's important for my fruit and vegetable cleanse."

They both heard a deep chuckle from behind them. Alice turned to see Jane appear from behind the door. "Cleanse? It's always something with you."

"Of course _you_ would be in here_._"

"As opposed to doing my job via tweets and instagram?" Jane quipped back. They both stood staring at each other in an intense gaze. The awkwardness of the silence was brought to Maura's attention after almost a full minute passed with them just staring at each other.

"Alice, Jane is going grocery shopping. You should tag along."

A simultaneous, "What!" came from both Jane and the teenager. They both looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Yes, _you_ need to go to the store… _she_ needs to go to the store." She barely got the suggestion out before they both objected.

"I don't know if that's a goo-"

"But Mom, we don't even-"

Maura raised her hand and they both fell silent. She looked between the two of them, trying to figure out why they were so against it. Then she thought about it and wondered why they'd been taking shots at each other all day. She knew they had a sarcastic relationship. That also made her think about how she'd never had an assistant who even knew of her children let alone had a _relationship _with them.

"Jane, you are cooking tonight, yes?" Jane nodded her head. "Alice, you would like to go to the store for your vitamins, right?" The girl crossed her arms looking off in the distance and nodded her head. "Good, now go. Both of you. Together."

Alice turned and gestured for Jane to walk out of the room. Jane smirked sarcastically and opened the door widely for her.

"After you, Little Miss Sunshine." The girl rolled her eyes and walked through the door and Jane followed after darting an annoyed look at Maura.

* * *

Jane thanked her lucky stars that the health products were on the other side of the store. The cab ride had been insufferable, and not because they threw digs at each other the entire time, but because they didn't speak at all. She realized that she would take a bratty Alice over a silently brooding, planning teenager any day. Her luck soon ran out as she was walking down the aisle and felt a presence beside her. She turned to see the girl dropping her vitamins into the basket and looking at its contents.

"Last time I checked, you don't need wine to make lasagna."

"Well, it's one of your mom's favorites. Plus, it's been a long day, and I thought it would help her unwind a little."

The girl looked off to the side and laughed knowingly with a shake of her head. "And you'd just love that, wouldn't you? My mother _unwound_."

Finally, Jane had had enough. She pulled the basket to the side of the aisle while the other hand dragged the girl with her.

"Okay. Could you explain to me exactly what your problem is?"

"My problem? _You're_ the one with the problem. The staring problem, the speech problem, the hands-to-yourself problem..."

Jane played dumb, unwilling to admit to anything yet. "What are you talking about?"

The girl threw her hands up in frustration. "Sai bene di cosa parlo!"

The taller woman sighed and ran her hands threw her hair and rubbed it across the back of her neck. They were about to make a scene and she knew it. "Look, I don't know what you think is going on between your mom and me, but I can assure you that-"

"No, it's not you _and_ my mom… it's just _you._ She has absolutely no idea what's happening, but you… you don't think I see the way you look at her or your little innuendos that you _think _are so charming, but really aren't?"

When Jane stayed silent, the girl set her shoulders and put her hands on her hips.

"I see it. And I can tell you right now that she's way out of your league so just save yourself the embarrassment and back off."

"You don't know anything about me."

"Maybe not, but I do know my mother and I can tell you that she has no idea what's going on, but when she figures it out… well, she won't be too happy."

Jane's annoyance instantly changed into bashful hope and she mumbled, "How do _you_ know?"

Alice paused in confusion, then shock. "Oh. My. God. You do like her, don't you?"

The older woman pursed her lips and stared into Alice's surprised eyes. She cleared her throat and started pushing the basket again.

"We should head back before your mother thinks we've killed each other."

Alice stared at the woman's retreating form. _What was Jane's angle?_ If anything, she became even more suspicious of the flirting assistant but followed her to the checkout counter.

* * *

"Jane, that was… really surprising." Maura sat back, bringing the wine glass to her lips as contentment ran from her taste-buds to her sated stomach. They all sat at the round table with Jane's empty pan of lasagna in the middle. Jacob had scarfed down two helpings, as did Jane, while Maura and even Alice enjoyed one as well. Jane and the teenager had shared a few awkward glances over the table, but both would quickly avert their eyes. If Maura noticed, she didn't mention it.

"Is that a good surprise or a bad surprise?" Jane grinned, already knowing the answer.

Jacob wiped the ice cream off of his mouth with his sleeve and cowered away from his mother's disapproving look before looking up at Jane. "A good surprise. You should come over to our house and make some more."

Alice's eyes met Jane's in a silent conversation.

"Hey! You don't like my lasagna?" asked Maura, only slightly offended.

"When you're home to make it," the boy said through a toothy grin.

Jane looked at Maura and found what she had expected to see. A mother stricken with guilt whose eyes suddenly found the ground very interesting.

"May I be excused?" Jake went on, "I really wanna check out all of the channels before Ali starts with her stupid girl shows." The boy perked up already standing, seemingly oblivious to the path of destruction his words had caused.

"Of course, sweetheart. Not too long, though. We have to get up early tomorrow."

Jacob nodded before giving his mother a kiss on the cheek, swinging by Jane for a fist bump and then sticking his tongue out at Alice. After he left, the room grew eerily quiet. Maura thought about what her son said about her never being home and both Jane and Alice thought about his previous comment.

"I'm going to do some reading on the balcony. Goodnight." Alice stood, walked to the couch for her iPad and then out on the balcony without looking at either woman who remained at the table.

"Well," Jane said as she started to collect the dishes, "I'm glad you all liked the lasagna. You barely touched your salad."

Maura snapped back to the present when Jane reached for her plate. "Jane, you don't have to do that."

"Don't worry about it. I've washed dishes before." Jane walked over to the counter and placed the dirty dishes into the sink. "Plus, I wouldn't want you messing up those soft hands of yours." Jane gripped the counter and dropped her head. _Stop the flirting, Jane. Turn it off. Shut it down. Right now._

"Well, thank you but that's not why I said that." Jane turned around to see Maura standing in the kitchen with her, wine glass in hand. "This," she said pointing to a sleek appliance, "is a dishwasher. It washes dishes," Maura teased.

"Right. I guess I just forgot. But I really don't mind. I'm used to it." She smiled at the blonde, but it slowly diminished as her boss walked closer to her. Maura walked up into her personal space and took one last sip of her wine. She reached down and grabbed Jane's empty hand and brought it up between them to place her empty wine glass in it.

With a one hundred watt smile she said, "Well you should wear gloves then. Your hands are quite soft as well."

Jane watched, frozen in her spot, as her boss walked away down the hall. She jumped a little at the sound of the bedroom door closing and closed her eyes taking in a shaky breath.

At that moment, Jane couldn't understand what was going on. Alice had said that her mom had no idea that the flirty back and forth between them even existed. So how would she explain what her boss had just said and the tone she had just said it in? The assistant walked back to the table and went around it to grab the last of the dishes.

When she got a hold of her body temperature, she chanced a glance at the balcony. And of course, there was Alice staring into the room with a bewildered look on her face. Jane dropped her head and walked to the sink. Turning the water on she wondered once again what in the hell she had gotten herself into.

* * *

Italian Translation: "You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

**A/N: Thoughts? By the way I was totally caught blushing by my friends while reading your reviews:) **


	8. Chapter 8

******A/N: You guys really are awesome! This one is a little long, but I hope you enjoy it:)**

* * *

_"Please…"_

_God, those fingers. They could set me on fire in a matter of seconds if they were in direct contact with my skin. I feel them slide slowly, sensuously along my spine like melted chocolate dripping down a ripe, red strawberry. Those same strong hands, whose touch is firm and sure, pause at the top of my skirt as if only to ask permission out of courtesy, not really to imply that no is even an option, because a moment later they continue their descent, dragging the zipper down with them. At this point, I don't think I have it in me to protest._

_It's getting harder to keep my eyes closed, but I do because she asked me to. And as much as I'm enjoying this – which is the understatement of the century - I don't know how many more feather light touches I can handle._

_"Please."_

_I'm not usually one to beg, but the simple plea is all my brain can muster as it escapes my gasping mouth again. I'm finding it incredibly hard not to squirm or scream in anticipation as I feel my self-control begin to fail me. It's been at least five minutes since any words have been spoken to me and I'm dying to hear that voice. Hear it say my name._

_When I feel those long fingers trail a blazing path even lower over the swell of my ass, my hips move forward on instinct with the primal need to get closer. And then lazily, almost as if deliberately taunting me, the pair of hands advance their downward path to ride the goosebumped skin at the back of my thighs, and then lower still to my… wait, what is that?_

Maura awoke to a sharp pain in her lower back. She groaned and reached under her back hoping to remove the source of radiating discomfort. What she came back with was a foot. Her _son's_ foot.

"Jake… what-" She turned on her side to see two hazel eyes staring back at her. The boy was sporting a full-on grin and moved until he was nose to nose with his dazed mother.

"Morning, Mom."

His mother's features instantly softened at his cheerful voice, even this early in the morning. Maura wondered how she had slept through her alarm. She had only done that once before, and her entire day had been flipped upside down. Her suspicions were confirmed as she looked over at the alarm clock which confirmed that she indeed had thirty minutes left to sleep.

Sighing patiently, she gave her sleep-addled attention back to her little man. "Sweetheart, what are you doing in my bed?"

"I couldn't sleep so…" he shrugged at the end of his sentence, a little uncomfortable with how childish he felt he sounded, but quickly made peace with it.

The boy knowingly raised his eyebrows and moved his hand to her ear. Maura smiled contently at the gesture. Ever since Jacob was smaller, he had always done this. When he was seeking comfort he would somehow sneak his hand up to her ear and rub it between his fingers and thumb. Maura thought it strange that a gesture meant to soothe the person receiving it, did the exact opposite and would put the boy to sleep almost immediately.

"Did you have a bad dream?" she asked, running her fingers through his tousled brown hair. _Note to self: get Jake a haircut._

"No… but it seemed like _you_ did."

Maura frowned as she tried to think back on her dreams. It was hardly ever that she dreamed when she slept, and if she did dream, she scarcely remembered it. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you were making these weird noises and then you said _please_ like you were talking to someone."

Maura suddenly felt the heat of embarrassment flush her cheeks as disjointed images from her dream came rushing back. She had been _dreaming_ alright, but it definitely was _not_ a bad one. Maura thought harder as she sat up. She had been having a dream that made her very warm and… honestly, aroused. But who could she have been dreaming about? It was certainly a mystery to her, having had a very long drought in that department thus far. All she remembered from the dream was how the woman's hands on her body made her feel. _Wait… a woman?_

"Hello…? Mom? You okay?"

She glanced at the boy who had sat up beside her and was now waving his hand back and forth in her line of vision. Maura shook her head and tried to focus on what he was saying.

"Hm?" she mumbled.

"Are you okay?"

Hesitantly nodding her head, she was happy that her son was only ten and couldn't quite place her expression as what it was. _Apprehension. _

"Okay, well can we go eat breakfast now? And can Jane cook again?"

Maura was grateful for his ignorance as she idly played with her son's hair and thought about last night. Jane really did have a gift for cooking. When she had asked Maura to try the sauce and let her know what she thought, the architect almost blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. She only admitted the sauce was delicious, but smartly omitted the part about what a turn on it is when someone can cook.

"Well, I'm not sure when Jane will grace us with her culinary skills again, but we'll be going _out_ for brunch today."

Knowing that her son's tilted head and wide eyes meant the same thing as when she tilted her head with wide eyes, she sighed and carefully asked, "Jacob, what did you do?'

"I may have already waked Jane up."

"Woken."

"…woken Jane up."

Shaking her head, Maura pressed her lips together and tried not to smile. She stood from the bed and started putting on her robe and slippers. She knew exactly how much her assistant hated early mornings. When Maura had asked her to switch their Friday night flight to Saturday morning, the brunette made it known by groaning as loudly as she could when she thought her boss was out of earshot.

Now, walking into the kitchen she could smell the coffee steaming on the silver rolling trey. _Room service._ Maura looked around for the brunette but couldn't immediately find her. Fixing a cup of coffee for herself, she sat at the kitchen island and started reading the newspaper lying on the counter. She had just made it to the comics section when the elevator door dinged and booted footsteps echoed down the hall. What she saw almost made her drop her coffee cup.

"Morning, boss. Sleep okay?" husked Jane in an insanely sexy morning voice. Coupled with the visual, it took Maura by surprise.

Maura sat frozen in her seat with her mouth hanging open mid-hello. She dropped her gaze and slowly let her eyes rake up Jane's body. Starting at her slightly dirty shoes, to her never ending naked legs that were only covered from mid-thigh due to her red athletic shorts. Maura swallowed loudly as her gaze continued upwards to the tight and completely saturated tank top that clung around Jane's visibly well-defined stomach. Letting her eyes travel even further up she took in the sight of Jane's toned arms, covered in a light sheen of sweat. Finally her eyes drifted to the woman's face and took in her raised eyebrows and smirking mouth.

"Something wrong, Maur?"

Instead of attempting to string an intelligent sentence together, the stunned woman rather took a quick sip of her coffee and looked back at the woman. Speaking seemed like too big a task at the time.

Jane walked over to Maura and reached across her to grab the newspaper and heard the smaller woman release a shallow breath.

"Gross, Jane. You're dripping your sweat all over the table… and my mother," Alice grouched walking into the kitchen with Jacob in tow, who had done a really good job at waking everyone in the hotel suite.

"No, I don't mind."

All eyes turned to Maura instantly. One pair shocked, one pair amused, and the last only looked out of habit.

"Mom?" questioned Alice, incredulous.

"Well I- I- I just meant that- you know… it's only natural for humans to secrete perspiration during vigorous physical activity. It's nothing taboo." When no one said anything Maura continued, "So did you e-exercise or?" Maura's heart skipped when Jane smiled at her.

"Yeah. I hit the gym downstairs since I was already up at six this morning…" she directed that last part pointedly at a certain ten-year old boy with ridiculously adorable dimples. She wasn't really mad though. She really needed the outlet after last night.

"I'm sorry about that. My child's hunger is like an alarm clock."

Jane laughed and grabbed two coffee cups from the tray and filled them. "No, it's fine. I didn't get much sleep anyway..."

And just like that, the awkward was back. The brunette walked over to Alice, who was sitting in the only seat beside her mother, and cautiously placed a coffee cup in front of her. The girl looked down at the coffee and then turned her suspicious eyes back to Jane. She was about to decline when her mother nudged her.

"Alice…"

The girl sighed and gripped the cup. "You shouldn't have."

"Well, you are the boss's daughter. Have to keep you ladies happy." Jane pressed her palms on the countertop her arms instantly flexing and grinned over at her boss who snapped her eyes back to Jane after being caught staring at her arms again.

Deciding she really was dripping all over everything, Jane stood back up. "I'm gonna take a shower. Ten minutes tops." She walked out of the kitchen.

"Mom, what time are we leaving?" Alice asked her mother, turning towards her. When she saw her gaze lingering after Jane and realized that her mother hadn't even heard her question she furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, honey. What did you say?"

Alice looked at her mother with a puzzled look on her face. Her mother couldn't possibly be checking out her _assistant.._.

"Mom, do you li-…" Alice cut off her own sentence and decided not to ask what it was she really wanted to know. She was too afraid of the answer. "Never mind. I'm going to get dressed."

* * *

Someone was calling her name, but she couldn't see anyone she recognized. Maura looked over to Jane still in line for food as she let Jacob entertain her quite animatedly as he told whatever adventure he had. Maura smiled at how well her son seemed to have taken to Jane. When her name was called again, she finally looked over her shoulder to see the one person she was trying to avoid this entire conference.

"Well, I'll be damned. I get to share a table with the great Maura Isles, this go 'round?" The woman walked up to the table and placed her food down a few chairs away from Maura and plopped in her seat. Maura silently cursed herself for not checking all of the name tags at her table and just assuming there was an extra chair.

"Jessica, how are you?"

The red headed woman looked surprised for a second before she laughed out loud. "Do you really want to know, or are you just trying out some of my southern hospitality?" Maura only shrugged as she brought her glass of juice to her lips; truth was, she really was only being polite. "Well, in that case, I'm doing just fine. How about you?"

"I'm great. How's your family?" Maura went on as some sort of reflex, but wasn't really interested in prolonging this conversation.

"Carson just got accepted into Harvard. She's going to be a lawyer, just like her Daddy. And Samantha's soccer team won first place in the state last weekend. Oh, and Peter is doing amazing at his firm… How's Ian?"

Something in her tone told Maura she already knew. This woman knew how to push her buttons and never hesitated to do so. She knew Jessica from her College years, and they were once even good friends before Jessica decided that they could no longer be friends for as long as they were competition in graduate school.

She definitely knew about the divorce. Before Maura could answer, Alice walked over and reluctantly took her seat between them. Maura could see the beginnings of a scowl.

"Hello, Mrs. Wright," greeted the teenager.

"Why hey there, girly. I see someone's finally hit puberty," she gestured over to Alice. "I remember when you were so short and, my goodness, those crooked teeth of yours. Do you remember, Alice? Now look at you, you're a pretty little thing."

"Pretty little thing? Really? Whatever happened to feminism?" retorted a teasing voice.

Jessica Wright slowly turned her head to the interrupting voice as if she couldn't fathom that anyone would ever butt into a conversation like that, but her devious smile turned into a surprised smirk when she found the source of the comment to be a tantalizingly tall, tanned woman with long dark hair taking the seat right next to her.

"And who might _you_ be?" The tone of her voice was noticeably different.

"She's my assistant, Jane Rizzoli," interjected Maura unknowingly. "Jane, this is my… colleague, Jessica Wright."

"It's nice to meet you," said Jane dutifully and stuck her hand out to shake Jessica's. The woman looked the brunette up and down before she slowly took Jane's strong hand into her delicate grasp, her hold lingering a little longer than polite.

"The pleasure is all mine," she giggled, "and what a strong grip you have."

Jane knew when she was being ogled but couldn't help but smile at the woman. She found her accent to be somewhat charming, and she wasn't exactly a sore sight either, as Jane tried to hold her eyes above 'c' level. C for cleavage, that is.

The gorgeously curvy ginger woman leaned closer and smirked proudly when Jane's eyes darted down to her bosom. "But honey, you can call me Jessie."

"Uh, Jessie?"

"Yes, _Jane_?"

Jane looked down to the hand that the woman held so close to her chest that she could practically feel the woman's heart beating. "I'm going to need my hand back."

Mrs. Wright looked at Jane for a beat longer before she slid Jane's hand out of her clutches and turned back in her seat to wink at Maura. Jessica could see the fire practically dancing in Maura's eyes and she smirked at her before turning her attention to her meal.

If Maura thought she disliked Jessica before, she had no idea how to express what she was feeling now. The woman comes waltzing over to the table in a blouse that was clearly from the kids department and then starts blatantly flirting with her assistant. The blonde rolled her eyes and glanced at Jane who was already looking at her.

"So, Jane. Where are you from, sweetie pie?"

Jane considered the woman beside her and wondered when their chairs had got so close together. "Boston, but my family roots are in Italy."

"How exotic. So do you speak Italian, Jane? Say something for me, sweetheart," she grabbed Jane's arm, squeezing a little and almost moaned at the firmness.

"What would you like me to-"

"Dov'è il resto dei tuoi vestiti?"Alice offered, interrupting Jane.

"Alice!" Maura stared at her daughter who seemed to be completely unfazed by her mother's glare. Jane turned away from Jessica, choking on her own tongue for a second, and tried to cover her laugh with a cough.

Regaining her composure she looked over to Alice, who looked back at her for a second, before she broke out into a full grin and started to laugh. This sent Jane into her own laughing fit and soon, with Maura joining, the entire table had erupted into laughter, with the exception of Jessica and Jacob (who was elbow deep in pancakes).

"What exactly is so funny? What did she say?"

Jane sat up after being doubled over and sadly looked at Jessica who seemed annoyed at being out of the loop. She placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder and didn't notice her boss's smile immediately drop.

"She said that… you have nice…" Jane looked down to the woman's chest and then back up to her eyes, "hair. You have nice _hair_. And I, for one, whole-heartedly agree."

Seemingly believing Jane, the woman was taken aback as she smiled back. "Well thank you, Jane. And Alice."

Alice sarcastically raised her eyebrows and nodded, then looked to Jane and upon seeing her smile, quickly averted her eyes to stop the giggle that was trying to come out of her again.

"What about you, Jessie? Where are you from?" Jane inquired.

"North Carolina, can't you tell?"

"I thought as much. I hear it's beautiful out there."

"Sure, but I'll tell you what: they don't make 'em quite like you, honey." The red head smiled scintillatingly as she once again leaned closer to Jane.

The brunette placed her fork down and turned to Jessie with a knowing smirk on her face. She was used to women flirting with her, but they were never so pushy, especially in such a setting. "Is that so?"

Jessie nodded as her eyes darted to Jane's lips then back to her eyes.

Jane sighed and leaned closer to whisper into her ear. "How about we tone it down a bit, huh? There are kids at the table… I mean, I don't even know you."

The woman giggled lightly, pushing Jane's shoulder. "Whatever you say, darlin'."

Maura instantly rose from her seat and everyone turned to her. "Excuse me. I'm going to use the restroom."

"Everything okay? You look a little flushed," Jane said as she moved to stand before Maura waved her off.

"I'll only be a minute."

Jane wondered what was up with Maura. She could immediately sense that she didn't like her abrasive colleague. The woman was like a firecracker and she could see how someone like Maura, calm and sophisticated, could easily get annoyed with her. But to Jane, the almost crude redhead reminded her of her own family… minus the flirting.

Jane looked over her shoulder to see her boss walking away as fast as her Louis Vuitton heels would carry her. Only a second later her attention was grabbed yet again by Jessie who proceeded to talk her head off.

* * *

As they walked out of the buffet hall, Maura tried her best to contain her eye roll. She had to sit through nearly two hours of her former friend talking everyone's ears off about herself, as well as all the totally gratuitous touching on her assistant. When she asked a question she had to touch Jane's arm, when she laughed at something Jane said her hand would disappear under the table to probably squeeze her thigh, and when Jane got something on her face, which was only visible to Jessie, the woman had to get up close and run her thumb dangerously close to Jane's lips.

When she had escaped to the bathroom, Maura had to wonder why it was bothering her so much. She and Jane only worked together, so why should it matter who she was interested in? But it wasn't hard to compile a list of why she should care about Jane rubbing elbows with someone she despised.

Firstly, Jessica is married. Maura had met her husband a couple of times at previous conferences and he seemed like a decent enough man, which is exactly why she always wondered how they ended up together. Just because he couldn't join her for this conference did not permit her to go around hitting on anything with a pulse, least of all her Jane. Her _assistant_, Jane.

Secondly, hello? The kids were right there. Would Jessie allow Maura to go flirt with her husband in front of her own children? Of course not. Not that it's a direct comparison in situations, but the principle of the matter applies all the same, right? If not, it should.

Thirdly, on Jane's part, it was completely unprofessional. Jane was here to assist _her_ and therefore had no business seeking conversation with anyone as insufferable as Jessica Wright. Her job did not involve indulging her colleagues, or at least not for two hours straight for goodness sake.

But as Maura reflected on the frustratingly freely flowing conversation between the two other women, she realized that Jane had seemed genuinely interested in her, and that is what bothered her the most. When Jessica asked her questions, Jane indulged her. When Jessica got handsy, Jane let her. And when Jane laughed or smiled or smirked, it was genuine. What was up with that?

Either way, it was completely unprofessional and she vowed to bring it up to her assistant sooner or later. Probably sooner.

* * *

Waiting on the sidewalk with her children for a cab, Maura looked back to see Jane walking out of the building with Jessica's arm looped through her own. _Well, at least Jane's hands are in her pockets._

"Hey, Maura? If we're all going to the TED lecture, mind if I borrow your assistant here? Cab rides can get quite lonely."

"Actually Jessie, I think I should ride with Maura."

"No," The pair eyed Maura as she ushered her children into a cab. "Actually, I'd like you to escort Ali and Jake back to the hotel. Please."

Jane was confused by the stony look on Maura's face. "But I thought we were all going to the lecture."

"They have a lot of homework and I would like them to work on it now. Plus, I hardly think an architectural lecture is the place for children."

An awkward silence enveloped them before Jessica unlinked her arm from Jane's, not without a final squeeze, and hailed a taxi. "Well then, I guess I'll see you later, Maura. And I will _definitely _see _you_ later," she said to Jane before ducking into the cab.

Jane gave her a quick wave before walking over to their own cab, but was stopped by Maura's hand. "Jane, a word?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Mrs. Wright is a married woman as I'm sure you must know."

Jane looked over to the redhead's retreating cab in surprise. "You mean Jessie? Oh… I had no idea."

Maura almost scoffed. "Did you just happen to miss the wedding ring on her finger? I thought you were more observant than that, or were you too busy looking at her… _'hair'_?"

The taller woman took a step back. _Wow, that was unexpected._ It was rare these days that she was on the receiving end of one of her boss's harsher tones. Jane tried to remember if she had done anything wrong in the last five hours and when she couldn't think of anything, she decided that she didn't deserve the attitude. She shut the cab door and lowered her voice as she stepped up to Maura. She clenched and unclenched her jaw staring into her boss's eyes before speaking.

"Look. Whenever you talk to me like I'm an idiot, I know it's your roundabout way of telling me something important, but do you mind if we skip to the part where you say what's actually bothering you?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Clearly not," said Jane crossing her arms.

"You were being completely inappropriate!" she replied in a harsh whisper. "This conference is no place for your flirty back and forth and least of all with _her_."

"What are you talking about? We were just getting to know each other. What was so inappropriate?"

"You were practically drooling all over her and she was practically dry-humping you at the table. Did I mention she's married?"

"Yeah, you did. Thanks for that. I'm sure you couldn't have pulled me aside and told me that like two hours ago, huh? But I guess that's my fault. I wasn't being _observant_ enough."

"Or maybe you were observing all the wrong things."

"I can't believe we're having this conversation right now. I can't believe **_we're_** having this conversation **_at all_**."

Jane was in shock for a second. She couldn't believe that her boss was going on about something so small. _So it's okay to flirt with you, but not anyone else? _Maybe Alice was right. Maybe she _had _been reading the signs wrong. _What the hell is wrong with me? _She shook her head.

"I've really had my head in my ass," Jane mumbled quietly.

"Excuse me?"

She looked back up to the woman in front of her. Her boss. Maura. Ms. Isles. Her _boss. _With a shake of her head, "Nothing. It won't happen again, Ma'am," she mumbled as she walked around the blonde to get into the car. "My cell's on if you need anything else… _Ms. Isles_."

Maura watched as her assistant heavily slid into the car, forcefully shut the door and they drove away. This wasn't exactly how she had imagined this would go. Sure, she wanted Jane to be more professional, but with Jessica. Not with her. Wasn't it a reasonable double-standard? She cringed when Jane politely spat the words _'Ma'am'_ and _'Ms. Isles'_ at her.

Maura bit her lip and internally kicked herself for being so transparent. But what exactly was she feeling? Annoyance? Anger? Disappointment? Whatever it was, she hated feeling it and only wanted to express her regret to Jane.

She left for the conference where she knew she wouldn't be able to focus for long.

* * *

"Boo-yah! One more point and I win, Jane!"

"Okay, big shot, but you have to _beat_ me first. Prepare to be terminated." Jane bounced the ball on the Ping-Pong table a few times with a serious look in her eyes. She breathed in and out loudly as if about to begin a footrace at the Olympics. She was definitely in the zone, or at least from Jakes perspective, who couldn't help but grin back in return.

At last, with a karate shout, Jane served the ball across the table at flashlight speed; not quite lightning. Jacob returned it with gusto, completely unfazed, and a match ensued. They went back and forth like a pendulum, Jane's face contorted in overt frustration while Jake's tongue stuck out the side of his mouth in concentration. The fun of it was more in trying to keep the ball in play than actually trying to beat each other at this point, but then Jane gave a dangerous smirk before letting her paddle _accidentally _fly right out of her hand to the ground. The ball flew in the opposite direction and landed in the kitchen before rolling to a stop.

"I won! I won! Whoo-hoo!"

Jane couldn't help but smile then laugh as the boy took a few victory laps around the table, even pulling his shirt up over his head like a soccer star. She bent down to pick the paddle up and fetched the ball to place them back on the table.

"Okay, okay. You got me. Well played, buddy." She shook his hand in a show of sportsmanship once he finally stopped his victory dance.

"That was fun. Let's play again." Jacob rounded the corner and picked his up paddle before the woman could even answer. Jane glanced at the clock; it read nearly 9:30 p.m.

"I think we should call it a night. Your mom will be home soon."

"She won't be mad. I already did all my homework and we're only just playing. Come on, the first to five wins?"

The truth was that Jane didn't want Maura to catch them like this. _Playing with her son isn't in my job description, and heaven forbid I further flaunt my spectacular lack of professionalism_. The thought really pissed her off and she was just about to tell the young boy to get ready for bed when she made the huge mistake of looking across the table... into those puppy dog eyes. _Dammit, he got me_. How could she refuse him? _Just one more game_, Jane assured herself as she wordlessly served the ball across the table.

"Hey, Jane, can I ask you something?" he asked as they volleyed back and forth.

"One," Jane said as she scored a point. "Sure, bud. You can ask me anything."

He served and asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Jane's eyes snapped right up to the boy as the ball flew right past her.

"One!" he exclaimed excitedly.

She took her time fetching the ball and returned throwing it across the table in a sneak-attack. "No. I. don't." she said with each hit, and this time Jake let the ball go by him. "Two," she said before he ran off to grab the ball and when he returned he was trying to conceal a mischievous smile.

"_Oh_..." he said, but it was a clearly loaded oh.

Jane frowned as they passed the ball back and forth, "Oh, what?"

"Do you have a _girlfriend?_"

Jane let out a hearty chuckle, never stopping her paddle's strokes through the air. His mother and sister didn't give Jacob nearly enough credit. This kid was more intuitive than he appeared but it didn't surprise her one bit considering who his mother and sister were.

"No, buddy. I don't have a girlfriend… Three."

"Why not?" he shrugged.

Jane thought for a second. She didn't really know why she was single. She thought about the time when she did have a girlfriend. Amanda. She slightly shuddered as she thought back to that dark time and the ball once again flew past her. "Two."

"I guess you could say I'm married to my work." She served the ball only for the ball to go into the net. "Dang it. We're tied." She tossed the ball over the net into the boy's hands.

"Hm. That's what Dad said about Mom."

"What's that, buddy?"

"I heard them arguing once. I was supposed to be doing my homework in my room, but I forgot my backpack downstairs and when I went to get it I heard him say that mom was married to her work."

"Four, game point." Jane took the ball, but paused. "And what do you think about that?"

Jacob scrunched his face as if trying to form a conclusion. "I guess it doesn't matter now. They're getting back together… Four! Tied again." He looked back up at Jane as she gripped the table, obviously not ready for him to serve.

"Th-They are?"

"Yeah," he looked around conspicuously for a second before he whispered to Jane, "This one time I was supposed to be sleeping, but I wasn't…." he trailed off as he grinned and served the ball over the table.

"What are you talking about, bud?"

"Dad came over really late last week and everyone was sleeping but me, and Mom went to get the door, and then I saw them talking and then he kissed her. It was a very long goodnight kiss, and when they didn't stop I ran to my room, you know… gross… FIVE!"

Jane stood as still as a statue, thoroughly defeated as the boy ran circles around her in victory for the second time. Her heart beat loudly in her ears and the image of Ian kissing Maura burned her eyelids. Did Maura really let him? Did she… _want_ him?

Jane's eyes suddenly widened at her realization. Maura had come into work one day looking very distracted and whatever her boss had been thinking about was certainly not work-related. Jane didn't question her about it and Maura didn't willingly offer any information about it so she didn't dwell on it.

Jacob ran and wrapped his arms around her middle and looked up at her. "I thought you said you were going to kick my butt. You totally sucked at that, Jane."

"Jacob Louie Faulkner, you know better than to use that kind of language."

He released Jane and they both looked behind them to see an exhausted Maura. "Sorry, Mom."

"Are you playing Ping-Pong? Jacob I told you to do your homework."

"But I already finished my homework. Tell her, Jane."

Maura looked over to her assistant for conformation. She placed her hands on her hips waiting for an answer, but Jane only sported a 'deer in headlights' look. Maura sighed and turned back to her son. "Well, you've had your fun. Time for bed."

When the boy walked away it seemed to snap Jane out of her trance and she followed after the boy.

"Jane, wait." Maura pled.

"I'm just going to check your e-mails and then hit the hay. Unless there's something you need."

"There is." Maura looked over her shoulder and waited until her son disappeared from sight. "I need to talk to you."

Jane waited a beat before she looked at her boss. "Have I done something wrong?"

"Jane…" Maura wasn't sure how or where to start.

"Is this work-related?"

"No, it's… it's not."

"Look, Ma'am, I realize that playing ping-pong isn't exactly the epitome of professionalism, but he finished his homework before dinner. You can go check if you don't trust me."

Maura sighed and looked away. "No, it's not that. But-"

"Then what is it because I'm really sorry, Ms. Isles, but your emails could be important." Jane started walking away anyway. "My cell's still on. Good night."

Maura looked after her as she walked down the hall. Defeated, she set herself down on the couch and sank into the cushions.

Isn't this what she had wanted when she requested professionalism? To be spoken to with detached respect. To only be addressed on business matters. To be given space. This is what an employer/employee relationship should be. Nothing more. But then why wasn't that enough?

Why did it hurt just now when Jane referred to her as _Ms. Isles_ and why was she so badly agitated earlier when Jessica was having a conversation with her _assistant_?

Maura shut her eyes and swallowed the urge to cry. If Maura was being totally honest with herself, out of the four assistants that she has had in the last ten years, Jane was the first that she had shared a hotel suite with and she knew that meant something, but unwilling to admit the truth that she knew lay dormant in the back of her mind, she reached over to the hotel phone and listened to the voice on the other line.

"Yes, I have an order for suite 14."

* * *

**Italian Translation: "Where's the rest of your shirt?"**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So...yeah. I'm really sorry this is late. It seems that my professors got together and devised a plan to kill me with assignments last week. Some of you guys have asked about things that have been mentioned before, like why does Jane have her scars. I promise they all will be addressed in time. Also, I am a cardholding member of Rizzles Nation so don't worry. Rizzles is endgame, but I think the journey makes it fun, right? Anyway hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"…And as you can see, my fellow associates here are more than ready to finally share _their_ opinions on this particular Victorian design, so I'm going to stop talking..." The seated crowd laughed briefly as the man with the microphone adjusted his polka-dot bowtie and continued. "… eventually." They laughed again on cue, enjoying his particular style of presenting which lacked the monotony and aloofness they had come to associate with such seminars. "But before we continue, we will take a quick break. Help yourselves to some refreshments in the ballroom and thank you for your time."

The room full of architects and the like gave the speaker an enthusiastic standing ovation as he waved once and then steered his way off the stage via the wheel chair ramp. Everyone, that is, except for Jane.

Maura Isles' assistant was stuck in her head throughout the talk (which she probably would have enjoyed otherwise) just as she had been the entire night before as she stared a hole through the ceiling, and well into the wee hours of the morning when she finally gave up on the idea of sleep. All the while the object of her frustration tossed and turned right across the hallway.

Thoughts of yesterday made Jane's skin crawl with unease. The argument that she had with Maura about Jessie made her sick to her stomach every time she thought about it. The amount of unresolved tension brought upon by that single conversation would not let her focus on anything else, which is wearisome on its own, but this situation also confused the hell out of her.

Was Maura really that mad at her for just talking to the woman? Granted there definitely was some flirting, which was mostly on Jessica's side, but Jane really had no idea that the red-headed woman was married. If she had known, she would have been more firm about shutting down Jessie's advances, but she would still have had that same conversation. It was never about her trying to get into the woman's pants or anything; they were just talking. So to go from friendly conversation to being attacked about her 'apparent' lack of professionalism was baffling.

The most maddening part though, was the fact that Maura would even think such a thing about her. Actually, it's disappointing and hurtful above anything else because, apart from the fact that Jane doesn't take anything more seriously than she does her job, despite how close she had gotten to her boss, Jane would never even think about wrecking anyone's home. Jane surprised even herself with how quickly her anger and aggression escalated. She'd never lost her cool like that with anyone; not even when she worked at BPD and was often called in to review the physical markers of a suspect. Criminals had a knack for riling people up just for fun with their rude comments and mind games but even when they would taunt her, she never let them get to her. None except for one, but that was something she never wanted to think about again…

Jane pulled herself out of her thoughts in time to stand with the rest of the crowd as the large hall slowly emptied out. When she saw her boss move out of the corner of her eye, she grabbed their things and trailed behind her. Luckily, she was paying enough attention when Maura suddenly stopped and turned to her, dodging a potential body slam into the shorter woman.

Maura raised her hand in a halting motion and looked up to Jane. "You don't need to follow me. I'm only going to the restroom," she said.

"Oh. Right," replied Jane.

"I'll meet you in the ballroom." Maura quickly turned away before Jane could read her let alone answer back, and continued on to the restroom.

For a brief moment the brunette just stood there, unable to compute all her emotions whirring away underneath the surface. Then she ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head at everything. She felt so far out of her element. She had no idea how to deal with all of this; everything Maura did now threatened to set her off. Whether it was wearing that tight skirt with an endless slit up the side or something as stupid as stopping Jane from following her to the restroom – everything got under her skin… and it was still only 11 am.

The icing on top of that crappy cake came into view as Jane made her way into the ballroom and quickly ducked her head out of sight. She had immediately spotted _Mrs. Jessica Wright_ in all of her ginger glory. Even though Jane wasn't so fond of running or hiding from her problems, it was still too soon to deal with all of _that_. She knew she would have to at some point, but at the moment it felt like a point of no return. On the other hand though, she really wanted to give this woman a piece of her mind for disturbing the peace between her and her boss. But then again, maybe the disturbance was inevitable after hearing about Maura and Ian allegedly getting back together… _How is that even possible?_

"Jane." The brunette turned around to see the woman in question behind her. Maura pointed between Jane and the table behind her. "You're lingering in front of the punch bowl."

A quick glance around confirmed Maura's claim and sure enough, Jane looked down in her hand to find she had fixed herself a glass of something pink. Jane wondered when she had drifted over to the drinks then mindlessly handed her untouched punch to Maura, turning back around to fix herself another.

"Thank you," Maura whispered, both surprised and unsurprised by the automatic gesture.

Several of her colleagues were mingling with each other. Usually, they didn't really speak much to her. Most were either jealous of her accomplishments or they found her intimidating, if not both. She was just thinking that she would have to engage Jane in some awkward conversation when the main speaker wheeled over to her.

"Good evening, Mrs. Isles." He looked up to her with a bright smile lined with whisky-and-cigar-stained teeth. She smiled back as she shook his hand.

"Hello, Mr. Graves. Your lecture was absolutely enlightening. You come up with something completely fresh every year."

The man smiled and nodded graciously. "Well, thank you Maura. And who is this?" The older man gestured over to Jane who stood with a slightly shaken look on her face. Maura lightly grabbed Jane's arm and pulled her a little closer.

"This is Jane Rizzoli, my assistant."

"It's really nice to meet you, Mr. Graves. I'm actually a really big admirer of your work."

The man seemed a bit surprised at Jane's steady strong grip but only nodded appreciatively at her. "Thank you, Jane."

"Of course. And I know this is like two years late, but congratulations on winning the Driehaus Prize. You really deserved it. Your community work is groundbreaking."

The man looked surprised and raised a brow at Maura. "Where did you find this one? I like her already."

They all laughed, which was pleasantly jarring for the women having had a long silence between them. They accidentally caught each other's eye and the awkwardness was immediately back. Jane was the first to drop her eyes to the ground.

The silver-haired man brought their attention back to him smoothly. "So, Jane, are you an architectural student?"

"I was. I just graduated from BCU last year."

"They have a great program there. I'm sure you must know Professor Brown…?"

"I was actually his TA while I was there. He and Professor Radcliffe both were great mentors."

The man fixed Jane with a tightly pensive gaze, scrutinizing her as best he could with the height difference. "Hmm… Do you want to know what I'm thinking?" he asked eventually.

"What's that?"

He contemplated his answer before a broad grin smoothed out his wrinkled face, almost taking a decade off his features. "There sure is something about you, Jane Rizzoli."

Jane's puzzled face switched from his face to Maura's and then back to the older man. She could tell he meant something good, but he was being a bit cryptic. "Excuse me, Sir?"

"In the time I've been doing what I'm doing, I've seen hundreds of graduates fresh out of college, ready to take on the world. Most of them end up burning out before the fun even starts, or they get themselves in trouble by not playing by the rules of the business. But you're different… careful, patient, but the passion is always there, isn't it? An old man like me can tell these things."

Jane blushed slightly at the man's kind words and stuffed her hands in her pockets trying not to rock on the balls of her feet like a teenager. "Thank you, Sir. That's very kind of you to say."

"I'm just telling the truth. And you look like you don't take shit from anyone either."

Both Jane and Maura, who had been silently listening to the conversation, gasped at the man's bluntness. He smirked at them. No one ever expected this from an eighty year old Art History buff in a wheel chair. He loved to surprise them.

"It's okay, ladies. I'm old. I can say _shit_ without getting in trouble." Jane tried to hide her grin as she nodded silently. "But really, Jane, I'm usually perceptive about people and for you to survive Brown and then associate with Maura Isles, I just know I'm right."

"That means a lot, Sir."

"And Maura, you better hang on to this one for as long as you can. She's going to be your competition soon." Mr. Graves took a hearty gulp of his punch and looked on as the two women seemed to shift uncomfortably.

"I don't doubt that," replied Maura, and it was the truth. But something in her tone sounded a lot like dread.

"Speaking of branching out, mind accompanying me over to the freshman table?" he asked the honey-blonde designer.

"The freshman table?"

"Yes. You divide my age by about three and shave off a few years and you get _them_. Maybe you can help me decipher some of whatever the hell they're saying. Plus, I think they'll be more excited to see the amazing Maura Isles than old fart Graves."

She chuckled tucking her purse under arm. "I'm sure you're wrong, but of course I'll join you. Excuse me, Jane."

The taller woman gave a tight-lipped smile as the two left. She had forgotten how much of a rock star Maura really was in this world. When Jane was in college she practically worshiped Maura's designs. The evening she had gotten the call from her old college professor saying that the design icon was in need of a new assistant and that he had the connections to get her in, she knew she was in for the ride of her life. _I never expected it to be this bumpy._

"Hey, sugar. I finally found you."

Jane's ears perked up at the familiar voice. She closed her eyes and sighed before slowly turning around. "Jessie."

"The one and only." The woman slowly sauntered closer to Jane and reached around her to pick up Jane's cup of punch.

"That's actually mi-" Jane watched the ginger take the edge of the cup between her lips and drink the remainder of her drink.

"Mm... This is quite good." She licked her lips. "So is _this_ how you taste?"

Something about the fact that Jane now knew this woman was married made what could have potentially been a funny statement into an uncomfortable one. She stood stunned for a second before she looked around to make sure no one was listening. _Now's as good a time as any_, she thought as she got rid of her cup and took Jessie's hand, dragging her off to a secluded area of the room without causing too much of a scene.

"Oh, Jane. Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?" came the breathless quip once they were alone.

"Listen, Jessie, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, don't apologize," Jessie pressed closer to Jane and let a hand crawl up her tensed bicep. "I like it a little rough."

This time though, Jane couldn't help but laugh a little. What was this woman doing? Jane lifted the hand on her arm up and held it between them. "There's a tan line on your ring finger. Tell me, did you forget your wedding band at the hotel or did you leave it there on purpose so you could do exactly this?"

Jessie narrowed her eyes at Jane. "You're a smart one. I think I want you even more."

"Jesus, stop it. Look, I don't know what kind of person you think I am, but you're married and I don't-"

"Ugh, leave my boring husband out of this. Honey, this is between _you_ and _me_."

"_I_ would really appreciate it if _you_ would stop interrupting me, _Jessica_." Expecting the woman to step down a little at her tone, Jane was annoyed to see the woman smirking at her.

"_God. _You're so dominant, Jane. I can't wait until you-"

Jane smacked the woman's hand away that had snuck up to lie on her chest. "Imagine if your kids walked in on us right now."

Jessie went still and quiet. Something flickered in her eye a lot like guilt and fear before it disappeared just as quickly and turned into petulance. Jessica crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "You and I both know there's no chance of that happening so why even go there?"

"Because I know there's a part of you that knows what you're doing is wrong on some level. I mean, this is… beneath you."

Once more, Jane thought she had gotten through to the woman. Jessie seemed to be really contemplating her words and maybe Jane's approach was speaking to a deeper part of her that had a conscience… No such luck.

"Oh, come on, Jane," she all but whined like a toddler losing her toy. "No one has to know. He doesn't have to know."

Jane couldn't believe her ears. She would never even consider cheating on someone she made a commitment to, especially not when there were children involved. Jane found that not only was she getting aggravated with this woman, but she was also insulted that she thought Jane would so willingly give into this kind of debauchery.

"Are you out of your mind? Isn't it enough for _you_ to know about it?"

"Don't be naïve. My marriage has been very unhappy for a while, and I know from yesterday's events that you're in the dog house with your woman."

"… My woman?"

"Really, I'm not blind."

"You mean, Maura?"

Jessie smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you think I mean?"

Before Jane could completely shut the woman down, her phone rang. Looking down at her phone she saw that it was from Alice. _Something's wrong. _She looked back up to the woman and set her shoulders to address her.

"I'm going to say this once. I don't want any kind of relationship with you. Sexual or platonic. Stay away from me and stay away from Maura and her kids. I mean it." She stared the woman in the eyes for a few seconds before she walked away pulling her cell phone to her ear. She didn't really know if the woman got it, but it would have to do for now.

"Yes, Sunshine. Do you need me to go Africa for your magic juice or somethi-"

_"Jane?"_

The brunette felt a rise of panic as she recognized the voice on the other end of the phone not to be Alice's voice. "Jake? What is it? What's wrong?"

_"We need your help. We-"_ The boy stopped talking and Jane could hear a shuffle in the background. Her eyes immediately searched the room for Maura. _Had someone gotten into the room? Did they leave the room?_

"Jake!" she called into the phone, "What's happening?"

_"…"_

"Jacob!"

_"Geez, Jane. Will you stop yelling?"_

"Alice? What's going on? Are you guys okay?"

_"Yes,"_ sighed the teenager sounding bored and exasperated, _"we're fine. The little dork just stole my phone."_

Jane instantly relaxed. She slumped into the nearest wall and rubbed her temples trying to soothe the instant headache she had gotten from the adrenalin. "Why did your brother say you needed help though? Did you steal his PSP or something?"

_"No… It's nothing."_

"Alice, if your brother's upset about something, would you really rather wait until he goes crying to your mother later than tell _me _right now?"

There was a brief as silence as the teenager debated the two scenarios. She finally sighed and deciding that she'd rather not have her mother on her back for something so stupid.

_"Fine," _she growled,_ "We got hungry and I decided to order room service since Mom said not to leave the room, but he's being an ass and-"_

"Alice."

_"He's being a **butt** and saying that the food on the menu's too fancy so he refused to eat anything that isn't a burger. He knows very well Mom won't let him eat that and I'd rather not be chewed out for letting him have one."_

"So you need me to…" There was a sudden grunt on the phone followed by a few inaudible yelps and angry words. Finally an out of breathe Jacob answered.

_"We need you to take us out for food. If you don't, then I'm going to starve to-"_

_"You're not going to starve, idiot!"_

Jane chuckled and listened as the two wrestled for the phone. Finally, she heard a door slam loudly and then silence. "Hello?"

_"It's me..."_

"Why did your brother call _me_ and not your mother?"

_"Isn't it obvious?"_ The brunette huffed and waited for the teenager to realize that she was having none of her sarcasm today. _"Because this is your job. You're still the assistant aren't you, or did you get fired after yesterday's… thing?"_

Ah, so they noticed. Jane was hoping her and Maura's little tiff went unnoticed, but nothing gets by these kids.

"Whatever, I'm on my way. Just don't kill each other before I get there."

She hung up the phone before the girl could reply.

* * *

Walking over to her boss, Jane already knew that the woman would want to stay for the Q&A. Jane could see how in her element Maura was as she took in the amount of people surrounding her asking her questions. She walked up to her and lightly touched her back, getting her attention.

"Excuse me, Ms. Isles. May I have a quick word?"

"Oh, Jane. Everyone," Maura easily drew the attention of the ten or so people around them, "this is Jane Rizzoli. She is one of the brightest up and coming architects."

Jane shyly looked at everyone and gave a quick nod of her head. "Hi." She started to walk away thinking Maura would follow her only to be drawn back by the blonde woman's voice.

"Jane, I was just telling them about the time you saved me in that meeting with the men from the Parker Project."

Jane quirked a brow suspiciously. "Were you now?"

"Yes, she was. Not many have ever saved Maura Isles' butt before," said one of the older men in the group. "I know a lot of people who would love to have an assistant who has a brain and does more than get coffee. You're lucky she's yours, Isles."

Maura turned to look at Jane and smiled longingly. "I sure am."

The entire group was silent as both women stared at each other. Mr. Graves squinted his eyes a little before smiling and clearing his throat. "Jane, didn't you say you needed to talk to Maura about something?"

Jane looked over to the man trying desperately to comprehend his words. "Oh, yes. Can I, see you over here for a second."

They both left the group and Maura led them over to the table adorned with fruit.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you alone for that long."

"No, it's fine. The kids just called me."

The little blonde head popped up instantly and she placed her plate of food that she had been preparing down on the table.

"Don't worry, nothing's wrong. They're just hungry and Jake suddenly thinks everything on the room service menu is crap. So, I'm gonna take them to the deli a couple of blocks away from the hotel."

"Oh," The woman looked down and started picking at her nails, "why didn't they call me?"

Jane could immediately tell what Maura was thinking and she stooped a little to look the shorter woman in her eyes. "Hey, look at me."

Maura stalled for a moment before she brought her sad gaze up to her assistant.

"It's nothing personal. They probably didn't want to bother you… Plus it's kind of my job, right?" Jane said as an afterthought that was meant to stay in her subconscious. Jane smiled at the woman, but Maura could still feel the sting of the last words.

"Jane, can we talk?" _Oh no. She wants to talk. Right now?!_

"But the kids-"

"Are we okay? I mean, I know we're not, not really anyway, but…"

"Maura… I mean Ms. Isles, I don't think right now is-"

"I'm trying, Jane."

Here we go again. Being interrupted while she's trying to speak. _Why do people think that's okay? _She scoffed and took a step back away from the table. Why did she need to try? This was a boss/employee relationship. Strictly business.

"Trying? This is trying? You can't just throw compliments at me in front of your groupies and expect everything to be okay from now on. Just like that."

"But we need to fix our _work _relationship at least."

"There's nothing to fix," Jane spat bitterly. "You say jump and I ask how high, right?" Jane turned around and started to walk toward the door, leaving Maura behind.

"Wait, Jane. That's not what I…"

But her words fell on deaf ears, because once again, Jane walked away from her.

Maura had allowed herself to think about why she had gotten so angry at her assistant yesterday and had nearly fainted when the realization hit her. It terrified her to even think about it and she hadn't gotten much sleep after that. She really needed to talk to Jane, but what was she to do when the other woman kept running away from her?

Everyone began to assemble back into the auditorium. Maura shook her head and silently cursed. Tightening her grip on her purse, she straightened her spine and left to take her seat for the Q&A.

* * *

"No, you're doing it wrong!"

"Am not. You just let me show you how it's done." Alice rolled her eyes as her brother scooted even closer to Jane, practically in her lap as they both looked at the video game in her hands.

"See… here we go… BOOM!" Jane dropped the game on the table and raised her hands above her head in victory.

"Whoa, you beat my high score! I've never cleared that level."

"That's because I'm the champ, kid. Now give me a high-five." She stretched her hands higher and higher over her head as Jacob failed to reach them. "You can't get it-"

"Jane!'

"Nope, you can't- Ooh wait, food's here. Time to grub, buddy."

The waitress lightly laughed as she walked up to the table. She started to place their orders on the table when Jacob decided to shoot a spit ball at Alice.

"Gross, you freak!" Alice picked off the paper and tried to scrub her brother's spit away.

"Ali, your brother is not a freak."

"You're on his side? He's the one who spit at me!"

"Jacob, that's gross. Apologize to your sister."

The boy looked up hopefully at Jane only to be rejected by her no nonsense face. "Sorry."

When Jane looked away he quickly stuck his tongue out at her and it was immediately returned.

"Hey! Could you guys cut it out for, like, two seconds please? Or I'm walking out of here right now and we'll see who settles the bill."

Both Isles kids sat back in their seats. They all looked up at the waitress to see her absolutely cracking up at them. "Your kids are so cute."

And just like that, everything got real. Alice cut her eyes at Jane and Jacob looked up at the woman confused.

"She's not our Mom," said Jacob.

The woman's grin turned embarrassed and she placed her hand over her heart. "Oh… I'm sorry, I wasn't..."

"Yeah, you should be," added Alice who received a death stare from Jane and the girl turned her attention to yet another salad.

Jane looked apologetically up to the waitress. "I'm sorry about her. She's just…"

The woman nodded understandingly. "Gotcha. I've got one of my own. You guys enjoy your meal."

Jane smiled politely as the woman walked away and when she was out of earshot she turned to Alice. "Why do you have to be so rude all of the time?"

"Why do you have to ask me that all of the time?"

"Because you do it, literally all the time."

"I think you're exaggerating."

"Not even close."

"If I'm so rude, why are you still here?"

"Because, it's not about you, Alice?"

"Oh that's right. It's about my mom."

"Just-" Jane was interrupted by her ringing cell phone. _Why the hell am I so popular today? _Looking at the phone she saw that it was her mother.

"I'm gonna take this because if I don't, my mother will send a search party to look for my body. But this isn't over."

The brunette got out of seat and made her way to the back of the deli. Alice watched as her brother, with a sneaky look on his face, reached over into Jane's plate and stole some of her fries.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Shh! You tattle tale. Or I'm gonna tell Mom just how old your boyfriend is."

The teenager's eyes grew wide and she snapped her mouth closed as her brother forced five fries into his mouth. She of all people knew how sneaky he could be. She started to laugh when the boy began to choke a little on his mouth full.

"See, that's what you get."

"Shut up!"

"And now I'm going to tell Jane that you said shut up."

"No! Don't do… Ali, I feel… I feel funny." The boy started to cough and his ears turned red. "My face feels really hot."

"That's called guilt, little brother."

Jacob's face turned a deep shade of red as he clawed at his neck and began wheezing loudly. He rose to his knees in the booth and started to cough and rub his eye's fiercely still trying to swallow the fries.

"Whoa. Are you okay?" Alice immediately got up and went to his side.

The boy shook his head and began rubbing his neck.

"Dude, they're fries, not fish bones. Just swallow it," she said, patting his back.

"I… can't. I…" The boy began to grunt and the wheezing got louder as he slumped forward against the table.

"Oh, my god, Jacob!"

* * *

**A/N:...Won't keep you hanging too long:)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: First of all over 400 followers...You guys really are awesome! Thank you to each of you for sticking with me:) Secondly, I'm not a med student, but I tried my best. Lastly, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

_"So...,"_ started Angela, after fussing over her grown adult of a daughter for not checking in with her the moment she landed in L.A. and every hour since. The younger Rizzoli woman groaned in anticipation as she pushed the restroom door open with her shoulder, where she had just quickly washed her hands for lunch. Jane wanted to take full advantage of the informal setting of this little restaurant and finally eat a burger and fries with her bare hands. Hanging out with the kids wasn't so bad when it afforded her such simple luxuries.

"Just spit it out, Ma. Whatever it is, I'm sure you're just dying to say it," she encouraged her mother sarcastically as she dodged an old lady headed to where she's just come from. Jane kept the door open for her, giving her a polite smile and nod when she thanked her.

_"I was just wondering how things are going there. With your boss... and her children... How are things?"_

"Uh... fine?" answered Jane, still not sure that this was Angela's entire agenda. "Everyone and everything is fine. How are things over there?"

_"They're great! But I mean, how are you dealing with being under the same roof as her whole family?"_

Jane rolled her eyed. "We get along fine, Ma. They're... interesting kids. What can I say, you know?"

_"So you like them? They like you?"_

"Is there a particular point you're heading towards or...?"

_"I'm just saying that you should try to get along with them if you're going to start dating your boss, because I'm sure she wouldn't-"_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there. Back it up. Did I just hear you right? Did you just put me and my employer on either side of the word 'dating?'"

_"Well, yes. What else am I supposed to call it? You're not doing a casual thing, are you?"_

It was just at that moment, while Jane was trying to process the shock of her mother's words, when she heard the shrill cry of a familiar voice.

"Oh, my God, Jacob!"

Immediately breaking out in a run over to their table at hearing Alice's shout, she tossed out a quick good-bye to her mother and hung up before Angela could get another word in. "Alice, what's going on?"

"I-I-I don't know!" the girl stuttered out, not taking her eyes off of her red-faced brother. "He was eating some of your fries and then he started choking, but he spit most of it out and I think he's still choking!"

Jane was already at Jake's side, after tossing her phone haphazardly on the table, patting his back. He looked like he was doing more than choking and when she looked down at her plate she had a thought. "Oh God." Jane motioned for their waitress who had already been on her worried way over. "Can you tell me all of the ingredients in these fries?"

"Margarita fries? Uh, there's garlic and seasoning salt and sea salt and lime… I think that's all besides the potatoes." She spoke as quickly as her memory would let her.

Jane snapped her head back to a fully panicking Alice staring at her poor little brother who was now slumping against Jane, holding his chest.

"Is he allergic to any of those things?"

The girl was frozen, not even seeming to have registered Jane's frantic question.

"Ali!"

She jumped, startled by the sound of her name being barked out like that. Jane softened her eyes and voice when Alice regarded her with terror in her eyes. "Sweetie, we don't have much time. Is he allergic to any of those things?"

"Lime," she replied, shaking herself out of her daze, "He's allergic to lime."

"Jesus. Okay, uh…"

"Do you want me to call an ambulance, Ma'am?" offered the waitress seeing as Jane's eyes were already out scanning the traffic through the large display window.

She absently shook her head. "They won't get here in time… Ali, does he have an EpiPen?"

"Yes," she nodded, "but it's at the hotel."

"Thank God we're only five blocks away," exclaimed Jane in minor relief as she hoisted the wheezing boy onto her back and held onto his legs. "Hang on," she said to Jake and then grabbed her phone off the table, stuffing it in her pocket on her way out.

Halfway to the door she realized the boy's sister was still sitting in the same spot so Jane ran back to the table, pulled the girl up by her arm and dragged her along, sprinting out of the door.

At the hotel, Jane thought about bypassing the elevator for the stairs but decided against it. The boy was heavier than he looked and she had barely made it through the crowd with him while tugging on Alice's hand.

"Come _on_..." she muttered breathlessly to herself, stabbing the 'up' button with her index finger while her other hand retrieved her phone and dialled 911. "Hi, uh, I need you to send an ambulance to the Hilton Hotel in West Hollywood... I've got a kid here having a severe food allergy... yes, Jane Rizzoli... Suite 14... Okay, thank you. Please hurry."

Ding!

"Oh, thank God."

Alice was now crying hysterically as the elevator took its time getting to their floor. Jane stopped pacing and squeezed the girl's hand, forcing her to look at the taller woman.

"Ali, as soon as these doors open I need you to go get his EpiPen and meet me back in the living room, okay? Can you do that for me?" The girl nodded her head as her entire body shook with sobs. "It'll be okay," Jane ran her hand down the girl's back and once the door opened, she gave her a slight push and the girl sprinted down the hall. "Hurry."

Jane quickly got Jacob over to the couch, placed him carefully down and kneeled next to him, mustering a smile. "Hey, Jake."

"I c-ca- brea-" he gasped.

"Shh... Don't talk, sweetie. You're gonna be fine, I promise." Jane darted her worried eyes down the hall. "Alice!" she yelled just as the girl rounded the corner with the kit in her hand. "Do you know how to do this?"

Alice nodded her head as she cleared her watery vision and grabbed the materials out of the kit. She took the pack and lined it up on the boy's thigh, but before she could jab him, she noticed how terribly her hands were shaking and how her breath was coming out almost as sporadically as her brother's.

"Jane, I can't. I-I can't- my hands-"

"Hey," Jane placed her hand over the girl's and pulled the EpiPen away. "I'll do it. It's alright. Do I just jab and push the button?"

The girl nodded her head and leaned away to give her space.

Without any further ado, Jane lifted her hand and forcefully stuck the EpiPen into the boy's leg, eliciting a pained grunt from him. She ran her fingers through his hair, waiting for it to take effect, and after several long minutes, the boy's shoulders started to relax. His chest rose and fell in slower movements as his lungs seemed to be able to inhale more air.

Jane sighed in relief, her body sagging in turn. She smiled down at Jacob, who weakly smiled back, his breathing evened out.

"Hey, there bud. You okay?"

Jacob feebly nodded his head. The brunette slowly continued to stroke the boy's sweaty forehead. "Yeah, you are."

She put her head down next to his arms as the adrenaline started to work its way out of her body, being replaced by the reality that she had just sprinted five blocks carrying a ten year old boy while dragging his teenage sister along through dense crowds.

She let out shaky breath after shaky breath trying to regulate her own respiratory system. So much could have gone wrong so quickly. She hadn't relaxed for long when her ears registered muffled sobs and she turned to see Alice with her face buried in the couch.

"Alice." She slid her way over to the girl. Jane was surprised that not only did the girl let her wrap her arms around her, but she actually latched onto Jane tightly. "Oh, Ali, it's okay. Your brother's fine."

The girl eventually stopped crying but still held on to the assistant.

"Can you look at me?" The girl stubbornly shook her head and Jane chuckled as the girl dug her face deeper into Jane's blazer. "Come on." When the girl finally looked up, Jane wiped away her tears and looked at her with easy eyes. "You did good. Alright, Sunshine? You did real good."

The girl mumbled something and Jane strained to hear her.

"What?"

"You meant _really, _not_ real_… you forgot about Mr. Adverb," she sniffled.

Jane rolled her eyes and squeezed Alice's shoulders tighter. "Fine… You did _really_ good."

"Well, if you're going to correct it, Jane, you may as well use _well_, instead of _good_."

"Jeez, you are just like your mo- … Crap."

The teenager looked hesitantly at Jane as she released her and picked her phone up. "What is it?"

Jane sighed as she pushed speed dial number one and put the phone to her ear. "I have to call your mother."

* * *

By the time Maura rushed into the hotel suite, eyes darting searchingly from one area to the next, the scene looked a lot more critical than it actually was. When Jane had called her, she nearly made a scene of her own in the middle of the Q&A. She not so subtly ran out of the auditorium and badgered the cab driver to go faster the entire ride while praying that the phone conversation was all a joke and nothing was the matter. But from the ambulance parked out front to the medics looking over her son, there was no such luck.

"Jacob!"

Jane stood up and quickly intercepted her boss, who looked about ready to shove the paramedics out of her way. "Maura, he's fine. Just let them finish."

"What the hell happened?" Although the question was aimed at Jane, Maura's attention was on the boy breathing deeply in an out with a stethoscope held to his back.

Jane sighed. "We went out to get something to eat and I stepped away to answer a phone call, and I guess he had some of my margarita fries. But they had lime in them so…"

"What?"

"We rushed back here and gave him his shot… he's fine."

Maura shook her head, needing to see for herself. She crouched before her son and between the two medics. "Jacob, sweetie. Are you okay?" She ran her hands up and down his arms as the emergency medical response team packed their equipment away.

"Yeah, just tired," he answered softly.

"Ma'am," one of the medics spoke up, "he should be just fine. The treatment was administered just in time and he's showing no signs of anaphylactic shock." The worried woman didn't answer him. She continued to stare at her son. "Uhm, but anyway, it's nothing a little rehydration and some bed rest can't fix at this point."

Finally blinking back her tears, Maura stood and turned to the man speaking to her. She shook his hand and walked them to the elevator. "Thank you so much."

"No problem, Ma'am, but we didn't do much. If that EpiPen hadn't been administered before we got here, I don't know if we'd have made it to him before he passed out, which could have caused more complications."

She nodded her head silently before the elevator showed them out. She returned to the living room and glanced at her daughter, who had been standing in the corner since she arrived, before returning to her son.

Jane noticed Alice cringe out of the corner of her eye every time her mother looked over to her. The woman was now turning the boy around and around to see if he was okay.

"Mom, I told you I feel fine. I'm just a little tired."

"Are you sure, Jacob?"

"Ms. Isles, he's fine. The paramedics said we got him here in time to give him his shot."

Maura didn't respond to Jane as she looked him over once more. She gathered her son in her arms for a brief hug before sending him off to his bedroom then stood to face her daughter and her assistant. They all stood quietly until Maura turned to Alice.

"You let your brother have French fries with lime in them," she stated.

"Mom, I didn't even know they had lime in them."

"He wasn't even supposed to be eating them in the first place, Alice. You knew that!"

"But they weren't his. He..."

Jane stepped up to intervene. Alice was still a little shaken up and looked as if she was either going to faint or burst into tears. Tensions were too high at the moment.

"Ms. Isles, none of this was Alice's fault."

Maura turned her angry gaze to her assistant, who didn't shrink away like her daughter did. "Was it _your_ fault then? Where were you while my child was choking? Off talking to someone else?"

Jane didn't let the implication of what Maura really meant by _someone else _slip past her, but at that moment it was neither here nor there. She understood that Maura was just running off of the fear from her child being in mortal danger while she was elsewhere.

Jane spoke carefully to let he truth of her words carry through. "It wasn't anyone's fault because it was an accident. These things happen."

Maura blinked as she rubbed her temples and seemed to regret her words. Jane was right. She looked back to Alice who had let a few silent tears flow down her cheeks. She didn't cover her guilt ridden face as she walked toward her daughter.

"Sweetheart, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to imply it was your fault. I just... I got really scared. If anything ever happened to either you or your brother..." She brushed the girl's hair behind her ear.

Alice nodded, understanding but still clearly shaken up. "It's okay, Mom."

Her mother leaned in and placed a kiss on the side of her head. The girl excused herself to go check on her brother, receiving a reassuring pat on the arm as she passed by Jane. Once they were alone, Jane took a few steps closer to her boss.

"I'm really sorry if I scared you over the phone. I just knew you'd want to be here."

"No, you did the right thing. Thank you, I..." She sighed.

"Don't mention it."

Maura sighed again and leaned against the arm of the large couch. "I did not handle that well at all."

"What, with Ali? She understands. She'll be fine."

The ripped up pieces of the EpiPen's packet still littered the floor, so Jane picked them up and rolled them into a ball in her hands. She cleared her throat and aimed the ball at a trash can. "Just so you know," she spoke up, "I had a little chat with _Mrs_. Jessica Wright and... she won't be bothering any of us anymore."

She was about to walk away and let her boss be alone when she heard a sniffle. Maura had both of her hands covering her face. The taller woman dropped her head and bit her lip. Wordlessly, she walked over to Maura and pulled her body into her own, Maura's head resting against her chest.

"Everyone is okay," she whispered into her blonde hair, "You're okay." _How many times have I said that today?_

"I'm sorry about just now. I didn't mean to imply anything," the blonde whispered in a surprisingly clear and steady voice.

"Yes, you did… but it's alright."

"I'm also sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have assumed you would ever do something like that with a married woman. I shouldn't have questioned your professionalism either. That was uncalled for and I didn't really mean it. I was just..."

Jane let her talk it out because she felt she deserved an apology, but when Maura trailed off, no more words were needed. "Apology accepted. It's moments like these that put life into perspective so I don't wanna talk about that anymore. By-gones, yeah?" Jane gave her one final squeeze before releasing her and leaning back. "Are you going to the evening lecture?"

Maura shook her head and wiped the moisture from her eyes. "No, I'm staying here with Jacob."

Jane slowly nodded her head. "Do you want me to go and take notes or anything?"

The shorter woman looked back at Jane as she took in her slightly ruffled, untucked shirt and wild hair. She looked exhausted. "You look like you just ran a marathon."

Jane gave the ghost of a smile as she looked down at herself. "How do you think we got here so fast? We ran."

"Jacob ran while experiencing hypnocapnia?" Maura lifted an alarmed eyebrow.

"Well, I kinda… you know," she mimicked hefting the boy onto her back and then dramatically running off with him. They both smiled at how absurd Jane looked as she demonstrated what she'd done. "...cave manned it outta there."

"Cave man Jane? It suites you," chuckled Maura at the thought while also feeling absolutely ridiculous with her make-up probably smudged from all the crying before.

Jane's own brief laughter slowed into a content smile as she gazed at her boss. Maura looked back at her a little confused. "What?" she asked self-consciously.

"Nothing, it's just…" Jane couldn't help but reach up and tuck a strand of hair behind Maura's ear. "It's just good to see you laughing," she shrugged. "You're beautiful when you smile."

Even though Jane had meant it innocently enough, something in the room definitely shifted with those words hanging in the air.

Maura looked up into Jane's shining brown eyes, mesmerized. She had missed this side to her assistant's personality that only came out when she wasn't guarded or mad at her, when she smiled that smile that sent Maura's heart into a frenzy. Before, when she didn't understand her own reaction to these little things, Maura had been confused and a little terrified, but now that she had put two and two together, she couldn't even pretend to fight it.

Before she could control them, her eyes dropped to the taller woman's lips and she stood up, winding up toe to toe with Jane. They were almost touching. "Just when I smile?" she whispered, still staring at the parted lips in front of her.

Jane could almost hear the thoughts coming from the woman facing her as she looked down at her, swallowing dryly. Her own mind went blank. Only when Maura gasped and locked onto her eyes did she realize that she had one hand on the shorter woman's hip. "Maura..." Jane breathed, surprised at the softness of her voice and the loudness of her own heartbeat.

The blonde answered with a gentle hand on Jane's chest while the other grabbed Jane's free hand that had been hanging limply by her side. "Yes, Jane?" she finally replied, feeling emboldened by the smouldering gaze aimed at her. Maura slowly guided the brunette's hand, placing it on the side of her skirt-covered thigh. Then she dragged it upwards, positioning it on her ass. All while keeping her hazel eyes fixed on chocolate brown orbs.

The fabric of Maura's skirt tickled Jane's palm but the thin barrier couldn't keep her from the heat of Maura's body. Her hand felt scorched. She almost moaned as her eyes slipped shut and she instinctually leaned forward, releasing a heavy breath._ What the fuck is happening?_

Maura could feel Jane's breath on her face. Jane's reaction sent a shiver across her spine.

"Shouldn't we..." Not even able to finish her sentence, Jane attempted to swallow again with no luck. Her hand travelled all the way up Maura's rear before her boss finally let it rest against her hip. She was out of breath – and she hadn't even done anything yet.

Unable to keep her hands to herself anymore, Maura grabbed Jane's shoulders first and then wove her fingers through her hair.

"Fuck," Jane shivered as she revelled in the feeling of fingers delicately massaging her scalp. Her own dug into Maura's hips, sending a jolt of electricity through Maura's body. Maura's own breathing picked up as she tilted her head back to face Jane, whose eyes were barely open but clearly fixed on her lips. She needed her touch.

"Jane, I want you to-"

"Mom!"

They sprang apart, Jane slamming into the bookshelf behind her. Feeling extremely disoriented, Jane swivelled around to make sure nothing fell out of the bookshelf. Maura behind her was just as unsettled.

"Y-Yes, Jacob?!"

"I'm thirsty," the boy yelled from his bedroom. "Can I have water please?"

Without another word, Maura entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She grabbed a bottle of water for her baby boy before deciding that she needed to calm down as well. She closed the door with two water bottles before turning around and stopping again.

Jane was leaning against the bookshelf with both of her hands in her hair, staring wide-eyed at the floor. Maura smiled at the sight and reopened the fridge, deciding she wasn't the only one in need of a cooling down. With three bottles in hand, she walked over to Jane and reached one out to her.

Jane's head snapped up and she didn't know what to say so she just took the offered water and mumbled a 'thanks'. She was about to apologize as well, but Maura didn't seem to regret the past few moments, as evidenced by her fond smile, so Jane relaxed too. She couldn't help watching as the woman started to walk away, enchanted by the view of where her hands were just moments ago. Jane immediately twisted off the cap and had three large gulps.

"Jane."

Nearly choking on her water, she swiftly looked up to Maura's face with apprehension.

"We'll talk later?"

_No. I'd rather run. _"Of course," she said instead.

Maura gave her a short, awkward nod before leaving to tend to her child's needs for the rest of the evening, while Jane was left to tend to her own lingering... _needs_. It didn't help much that her mind wouldn't let her compartmentalize the fact that her boss had literally come onto her and that she nearly kissed her in turn.

Later that night, Jane had a long, cold shower.

Shaking her head at the mess happening all around her, she reached for the soap. "Fuck. My. Life."

* * *

So... the cold shower theory? Totally bogus. It didn't help Jane at all last night. If it had, she wouldn't have spent the entirety of the next morning at the gym trying to work off all the excess tension still left in every fibre of her body. She wouldn't be surprised if everyone thought she was preparing for a triathlon at the rate she was going.

She was so wound up, she almost bit some poor woman's head off for making a pass at her at the treadmills. Jane was really not in the mood for more girl drama. Between her boss and Jessie, she thought it best to just leave the gym before more shots were fired.

When the elevator arrived on her floor, the assistant hastily put her sports jacket on, figuring it was best to cover up after last night's _incident_. She held the doors open for the room service delivery boy on his way out with an empty cart.

"Hi, Jane. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of ordering lunch for you."

Jane walked closer to the kitchen where all of the Isles' were having their meal. Not wanting to leave Jacob for the tour that morning, or for the midday lecture, Maura decided that they would do something less strenuous together. Hidden somewhere in her agenda was the desire to make sure he didn't eat anything that could endanger his life. Again.

"You ordered _me_ lunch? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

Maura smiled and opened her mouth to say something she hoped would be witty, but was beat to it by her daughter.

"The correct response, Jane, is 'thank you'. Besides, she figured you were too busy working off the steroids you had for breakfast."

"And a very good afternoon to you too, Alice Grace Isles. Nice to see you're alive."

"It's not my fault you wake up at the butt crack of dawn."

"Did you really just say butt crack while I'm eating?" complained Jacob as he let his grilled cheese slip back onto the plate.

"Oh, grow up," retorted his big sister with a very mature eye roll.

"Why don't _you_ grow up!"

So things were pretty much back to normal. Jane laughed as the attention was drawn away from her to Alice's brother and they bickered back and forth. She tossed a glance at Maura, whose gaze caught and kept her attention. The woman seemed to be trying to communicate something with her eyes alone as she looked up from under hooded eyelashes. Jane couldn't quite understand the message, but whatever it was made her shift uncomfortably.

Maura finally gave up and turned to her kids. "Would you two stop it? I know this isn't much of a vacation, but can't you pretend that you like each other, at least for my sake?"

"_Like _each other?" Jacob suddenly sprang up out of his seat and ran over to his sister. "I looove Alice." He reached up grabbing her face and planting wet, loud kisses all over it.

"Oh my God, Jake! Stop!" she squealed, although she was also laughing as she tried to get away from him. The two older women laughed along as Alice finally managed to escape, running down the hall with her brother right behind her screaming "Let me love you!"

"I swear, your kids are the funniest people I've ever met, Maur."

Maura had that look again. "_Maur_?" the architect asked hopefully.

"Yeah…" Jane shrugged, testing the waters. "Maur." Jane watched her boss bite her lip and walk around the counter, stopping in front of her.

"You don't usually wear a jacket after you work out," she commented.

"I, hm... I guess I got cold?"

Maura chuckled and reached up to drag the zipper down. Her assistant swallowed loudly as the cool air of the room greeted the glistening tanned skin of her bare midsection, visible below her sports bra. Maura's eyes greedily took every inch in of the tanned skin. She smoothed her hands down the toned muscles of Jane's exposed abs and couldn't help a small moan that escaped. _God she feels so good._

Convinced that no 'talking' would come out of this moment, Jane removed her boss's hand before they got too close to the top of her shorts, then nearly tripped over the stool behind her trying to back up. "I'm gonna- I'm gonna, uh... go take a… a… shower? Yeah, a shower. You know, before the, uh, thing tonight."

Maura knowingly nodded at her stuttering assistant who couldn't seem to stop talking.

"You should take one too. Uh, I mean- Not that you stink or anything! Just… if… uhm… I mean, not _uhm_… but shower, yeah?"

Jane nearly sprinted down the hall and into her bedroom. Maura smirked to herself as she walked to her bedroom to get ready for the banquet. After seeing what was under Jane's sports jacket, a shower wasn't the worst idea.

* * *

Alice stopped mid-stride when she heard a loud thump, followed by a mumbled curse she wouldn't repeat in polite company, coming from the room she was passing. She quietly crept closer, putting her ear to the door, and listened.

"How do girls do this shit every freakin' day?"

She heard the heavy footsteps coming towards the door but wasn't quick enough to pull back before it swung open to reveal a disgruntled Jane Rizzoli. She gasped and jumped back before they collided.

"Alice? What are you doing?"

"Uh... Well, I thought maybe you'd passed out in there trying to put on a dress or something, you know, because we all know how much you _love_ dresses_._"

The woman looked off for a second before looking back at her. "You know, that wasn't that funny this time."

"Yeah, I know."

"Okay… I was actually about to come looking for you. I need your help with something."

"Really?" Alice stepped back with a smug look on her face and crossed her arms. "And what could _I _possibly help _you_ with."

"Well, you know your Mom's got that thing tonight, right?"

"The banquet, yes?"

"Yeah, the banquet. I'm going too and I kinda need to not look like this just for tonight."

"I don't follow. You want me to call your fairy godmother?"

Jane groaned then mumbled her response, looking down and rubbing the back of her neck over and over.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Hair! I need you to help me with my hair."

The teenager automatically looked up to the mangled hair. She clicked her tongue with a frightened look. "You mean your mane?"

"_Alice_." Jane huffed as she grabbed the girl's hand and yanked her into the room before shutting the door behind them. The girl laughed and followed Jane to the vanity where she only had a straightener and a comb.

"This is it…? This is all you have? For all of _that_?"

Jane looked up with complete innocence and naïveté. "What else do I need?"

"Oh, Jane," she placed her hands on Jane's shoulders and looked at her through the mirror. "Don't move. I'll be right back."

Five minutes later, Jane was pretty adamant that Alice had run for the hills, never to return. She finally picked up the hair straightener and was about to attempt using it again when she heard a voice behind her.

"Don't. You dare."

The mirror reflected Alice bumbling up to her with a hair dryer, and an arm laden with hair products she'd never even seen before.

"Alice, I'm not freakin' Chubaka. And why do you need a hair dryer? My hair isn't even wet."

"Would you just trust me? I know what I'm doing."

Jane sat back in her chair as Alice started the dryer and began to comb through her hair. She was finally starting to relax when she heard the girl shouting over the dryer.

"Oh, and Jane!" the hair dryer stopped and Ali looked at her in the mirror. "This doesn't mean we're friends."

Jane quirked a brow.

"Even though you did totally save my brother's life and everything... Which was awesome, or whatever, because you're on, like, steroids and stuff..." she rolled her eyes and sighed. "We're not friends though."

The brunette couldn't contain her smile as the girl started the dryer again and went to work on her hair.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Sunshine!"


End file.
